TY - JOUR
T1 - Observing structural distortions in complex oxides by x-ray photoelectron diffraction
AU - Bouwmeester, Rosa Luca
AU - Jansen, Thies
AU - Altena, Marieke
AU - Koster, Gertjan
AU - Brinkman, Alexander
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge Dominic Post for his technical support. This work is supported by NWO through a VICI grant and the project TOPCORE.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - The observation of structural distortions in complex oxides is becoming more important in order to explain their macroscopic behavior. X-ray photoelectron diffraction is an excellent technique to study the crystal structure and potentially observe oxygen distortions in an element-specific fashion. Its surface-sensitive character opens up the possibility to perform experiments on ultra-thin films without probing the substrate underneath. For BaBiO3 thin films, for example recent experimental results point towards a suppression of an oxygen breathing mode with decreasing film thickness resulting in a decreased energy band gap. As another example, a nontrivial electronic band structure is predicted for [111]-bilayers of LaMnO3. However, the likely presence of a Jahn–Teller distortion would suppress the topological phase. Here, the working principle of x-ray photoelectron diffraction is described and the data analysis required afterwards is discussed. X-ray photoelectron diffraction interference patterns are obtained for various thicknesses of BaBiO3 and LaMnO3 thin films. Experimental results are compared with multiple-scattering simulations. Although, indications for the structural distortions are observed, we discuss limitations of the technique in quantifying the displacement of the oxygen atoms.
AB - The observation of structural distortions in complex oxides is becoming more important in order to explain their macroscopic behavior. X-ray photoelectron diffraction is an excellent technique to study the crystal structure and potentially observe oxygen distortions in an element-specific fashion. Its surface-sensitive character opens up the possibility to perform experiments on ultra-thin films without probing the substrate underneath. For BaBiO3 thin films, for example recent experimental results point towards a suppression of an oxygen breathing mode with decreasing film thickness resulting in a decreased energy band gap. As another example, a nontrivial electronic band structure is predicted for [111]-bilayers of LaMnO3. However, the likely presence of a Jahn–Teller distortion would suppress the topological phase. Here, the working principle of x-ray photoelectron diffraction is described and the data analysis required afterwards is discussed. X-ray photoelectron diffraction interference patterns are obtained for various thicknesses of BaBiO3 and LaMnO3 thin films. Experimental results are compared with multiple-scattering simulations. Although, indications for the structural distortions are observed, we discuss limitations of the technique in quantifying the displacement of the oxygen atoms.
KW - Complex oxides
KW - Distortions
KW - Oxygen displacement
KW - Perovskites
KW - X-ray photoelectron diffraction
KW - UT-Hybrid-D
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129886872&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.elspec.2022.147201
DO - 10.1016/j.elspec.2022.147201
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85129886872
SN - 0368-2048
VL - 257
JO - Journal of electron spectroscopy and related phenomena
JF - Journal of electron spectroscopy and related phenomena
M1 - 147201
ER -