No Arabic abstract
In this work, we studied the bulk band structure of a topological insulator (TI) Bi2Se3 and determined the contributions of the Bi and Se orbital states to the valence bands using standing wave-excited hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (SW-HAXPES). This SW technique can provide the element-resolved information and extract individual Bi and Se contributions to the Bi2Se3 valence band. Comparisons with density functional theory (DFT) calculations (LDA and GW) reveal that the Bi 6s, Bi 6p, and Se 4p states are dominant in the Bi2Se3 HAXPES valence band. These findings represent a major step further in describing the Bi2Se3 band structure and improve the accuracy for future DFT predictions of emergent properties in this class of TIs.
The dilute magnetic semiconductors have promise in spin-based electronics applications due to their potential for ferromagnetic order at room temperature, and various unique switching and spin-dependent conductivity properties. However, the precise mechanism by which the transition-metal doping produces ferromagnetism has been controversial. Here we have studied a dilute magnetic semiconductor (5% manganese-doped gallium arsenide) with Bragg-reflection standing-wave hard X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and resolved its electronic structure into element- and momentum- resolved components. The measured valence band intensities have been projected into element-resolved components using analogous energy scans of Ga 3d, Mn 2p, and As 3d core levels, with results in excellent agreement with element-projected Bloch spectral functions and clarification of the electronic structure of this prototypical material. This technique should be broadly applicable to other multi-element materials.
IV-VI semiconductor SnSe has been known as the material with record high thermoelectric performance.The multiple close-to-degenerate valence bands in the electronic band structure has been one of the key factors contributing to the high power factor and thus figure of merit in the SnSe single crystal. To date, there have been primarily theoretical calculations of this particular electronic band structure. In this paper, however, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we perform a systematic investigation of the electronic structure of SnSe. We directly observe three predicted hole bands with small energy differences between their band tops and relatively small in-plane effective masses, in good agreement with the ab initio calculations and critical for the enhancement of the Seebeck coefficient while keeping high electrical conductivity. Our results reveal the complete band structure of SnSe and help to provide a deeper understanding of the electronic origin of the excellent thermoelectric performances in SnSe.
The nitrogen substitution into the oxygen sites of several oxide materials leads to a reduction of the band gap to the visible light energy range, which makes these oxynitride semiconductors potential photocatalysts for efficient solar water splitting. Oxynitrides typically show a different crystal structure compare to the pristine oxide material. Since the band gap is correlated to both the chemical composition and the crystal structure, it is not trivial to distinguish what modifications of the electronic structure induced by the nitrogen substitution are related to compositional and/or structural effects. Here, X-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate the electronic structures of orthorhombic perovskite LaTiOxNy thin films in comparison with films of the pristine oxide LaTiOx with similar orthorhombic structure and cationic oxidation state. Experiment and theory show the expected upward shift in energy of the valence band maximum that reduces the band gap as a consequence of the nitrogen incorporation. But this study also shows that the conduction band minimum, typically considered almost unaffected by the nitrogen substitution, undergoes a significant downward shift in energy. For a rational design of oxynitride photocatalysts the observed changes of both the unoccupied and occupied electronic states have to be taken into account to justify the total band gap narrowing induced by the nitrogen incorporation.
Topological insulators are novel macroscopic quantum-mechanical phase of matter, which hold promise for realizing some of the most exotic particles in physics as well as application towards spintronics and quantum computation. In all the known topological insulators, strong spin-orbit coupling is critical for the generation of the protected massless surface states. Consequently, a complete description of the Dirac state should include both the spin and orbital (spatial) parts of the wavefunction. For the family of materials with a single Dirac cone, theories and experiments agree qualitatively, showing the topological state has a chiral spin texture that changes handedness across the Dirac point (DP), but they differ quantitatively on how the spin is polarized. Limited existing theoretical ideas predict chiral local orbital angular momentum on the two sides of the DP. However, there have been neither direct measurements nor calculations identifying the global symmetry of the spatial wavefunction. Here we present the first results from angle-resolved photoemission experiment and first-principles calculation that both show, counter to current predictions, the in-plane orbital wavefunctions for the surface states of Bi2Se3 are asymmetric relative to the DP, switching from being tangential to the k-space constant energy surfaces above DP, to being radial to them below the DP. Because the orbital texture switch occurs exactly at the DP this effect should be intrinsic to the topological physics, constituting an essential yet missing aspect in the description of the topological Dirac state. Our results also indicate that the spin texture may be more complex than previously reported, helping to reconcile earlier conflicting spin resolved measurements.
Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy have been applied to study the intercalation process of silver underneath a monolayer of graphite (MG) on Ni(111). The room-temperature deposition of silver on top of MG/Ni(111) system leads to the islands-like growth of Ag on top of the MG. Annealing of the as-deposited system at temperature of 350-450 C results in the intercalation of about 1-2 ML of Ag underneath MG on Ni(111) independently of the thickness of pre-deposited Ag film (3-100 A). The intercalation of Ag is followed by a shift of the graphite-derived valence band states towards energies which are slightly larger than ones characteristic for pristine graphite. This observation is understood in terms of a weakening of chemical bonding between the MG and the substrate in the MG/Ag/Ni(111) system with a small MG/Ni(111) covalent contribution to this interaction.