Electronic structure of La1.48Nd0.4Sr0.12CuO4 probed by high- and low-energy angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

We present angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy data probing the electronic structure of the Nd-substituted high-T-c cuprate La1.48Nd0.4Sr0.12CuO4. Data have been acquired at low and high photon energies, h nu=55 and 500 eV, respectively. The two extracted Fermi surfaces show significant differences. The differences can be attributed to either the change in probing depth suggesting dissimilarity of the intrinsic electronic structure between surface and bulk regions, or a considerable c-axis dispersion signaling a strong interlayer coupling. At both photon energies, considerable spectral weight is observed at all points along the Fermi surface and the intensity distribution as well as Fermi-surface shape observed at low as well as high photon energy is markedly different from what has been previously reported for La1.28Nd0.6Sr0.12CuO4 by Zhou [Science 286, 268 (1999)].

Illuminating the dark corridor in graphene: Polarization dependence of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on graphene

Isabella Gierz, Klaus Kern

We have used s- and p-polarized synchrotron radiation to image the electronic structure of epitaxial graphene near the (K) over bar point by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Part of the experimental Fermi surface is suppressed due to the interference of photoelectrons emitted from the two equivalent carbon atoms per unit cell of graphene's honeycomb lattice. Here we show that, by rotating the polarization vector, we are able to illuminate this dark corridor giving access to the complete experimental Fermi surface. Our measurements are supported by first-principles photoemission calculations, which reveal that the observed effect persists in the low-photon-energy regime.

2011

Quantum interference effects of out-of-plane confinement on two-dimensional electron systems in oxides

Ji Dai, Emmanouil Frantzeskakis

It was recently discovered that a conductive, metallic state is formed on the surface of some insulating oxides. First observed on SrTiO3 (001), it was then found in other compounds as diverse as anatase TiO2, KTaO3, BaTiO3, ZnO, and also on different surfaces of SrTiO3 (or other oxides) with different symmetries. The spatial extension of the wave function of this electronic state is of only a few atomic layers. Experiments indicate its existence is related to the presence of oxygen vacancies induced at or near the surface of the oxide. We present a simplified model aimed at describing the effect of its small spatial extension on measurements of its threedimensional (3D) electronic structure by angular resolved photoemission spectroscopy. For the sake of clarity, we base our discussion on a simple tight-binding scheme plus a confining potential that is assumed to be induced by the oxygen vacancies. Our model parameters are, nevertheless, obtained from density functional calculations. With this methodology, we can explain, from a very simple concept of selective interference, the "wobbling," i.e., the photoemission intensity modulation and/or apparent dispersion of the Fermi surface and spectra along the out-of-plane (k(z)) direction, and the "mixed 2D/3D" characteristics observed in some experiments. We conclude that the critical model parameters for such an effect are the relative strength of the electronic hopping of each band and the height/width aspect ratio of the surface confining potential. By considering recent photoemission measurements, in light of our findings, we can get relevant information on the electronic wave functions and the nature of the confining potential.

2020

Photoemission studies of thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Mike Abrecht

In this thesis I report on the unique novel possibilities offered by combining pulsed laser deposition (PLD) film growth of high temperature superconductors with angle integrated and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (PES and ARPES). The originality of the procedure rests on the in situ preparation and transfer of samples, hence by-passing the usual cumbersome cleaving or scraping practices to obtain high quality surfaces suitable for photoemission studies. Photoemission spectroscopy is one of the major experimental techniques to analyze the electronic structure that holds the key to understanding the properties of the high Tc cuprates (copper oxides) for which a complete microscopic theory still needs to materialize. In chapter 1, I introduce these complex copper oxide materials. The vast majority of ARPES measurements on the cuprate superconductors have so far been limited to the easily cleavable Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (BSCCO-2212) single crystals. In chapter 2, I present the principle of an ARPES measurement, and show as an example (obtained in the "traditional way" of cleaving single crystals) a crossover in the electronic response at a special temperature T+>Tc in overdoped samples. In chapter 3, our unique laser ablation set-up, built on site at the Wisconsin Synchrotron Radiation Center (SRC), is introduced. This is followed by reports on film characterization such as transport, crystal and surface properties which enables the optimization of growth parameters. From here on to the end of the thesis, we show that instead of being a competing technique to cleaving samples, in situ growth of films appears to be a complementary one. In particular, our results show that preparing cuprates which contain oxygen chains, like Re-Ba2Cu3O6+x (RBCO-123; R=Y, Nd), for the surface sensitive ARPES measurements is very difficult due to a material intrinsic loss of oxygen near the surface. This, in turn, curbs the photoemission signal near the chemical potential due to the loss of superficial conductivity (chapter 3). Among the cuprates studied, La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x films, however, both exhibit a sharp Fermi step in angle integrated photoemission spectra, indicating a conducting behavior at the surface. Moreover, thanks to using film samples, we were able to study ultra thin cuprates, down to about 1 unit cell (UC), and we were able to induce epitaxial strain in the samples which can remarkably enhance superconductivity. In chapter 4, combining core level, angle integrated valence band photoemission, and x-ray diffraction, we demonstrate that a structural phase transition occurs in the early growth of BSCCO-2212 films on SrTiO3 (STO) substrates, transforming the precursor Bi6O7 natural reactive buffer layer into the BSCCO-2212 structure. This is qualitatively different from the initial growth of YBCO-123 characterized by nucleation of well separated islands. Chapter 5 then presents the main success of our method: the first ever ARPES data on the low energy electronic structure of any high Tc superconductor under strain. In particular, we confirm that the Fermi surface (FS) of LSCO evolves with doping, but changes even more significantly with strain. More specifically, the FS becomes electron-like for in-plane compressed samples (for all doping values x studied, 0.1

EPFL2003

Photoemission studies of thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Mike Abrecht

EPFL2003