4 research outputs found
Depth-Resolved Composition and Electronic Structure of Buried Layers and Interfaces in a LaNiO/SrTiO Superlattice from Soft- and Hard- X-ray Standing-Wave Angle-Resolved Photoemission
LaNiO (LNO) is an intriguing member of the rare-earth nickelates in
exhibiting a metal-insulator transition for a critical film thickness of about
4 unit cells [Son et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 062114 (2010)]; however, such
thin films also show a transition to a metallic state in superlattices with
SrTiO (STO) [Son et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 202109 (2010)]. In order to
better understand this transition, we have studied a strained LNO/STO
superlattice with 10 repeats of [4 unit-cell LNO/3 unit-cell STO] grown on an
(LaAlO)(SrAlTaO) substrate using soft x-ray
standing-wave-excited angle-resolved photoemission (SWARPES), together with
soft- and hard- x-ray photoemission measurements of core levels and
densities-of-states valence spectra. The experimental results are compared with
state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) calculations of band
structures and densities of states. Using core-level rocking curves and x-ray
optical modeling to assess the position of the standing wave, SWARPES
measurements are carried out for various incidence angles and used to determine
interface-specific changes in momentum-resolved electronic structure. We
further show that the momentum-resolved behavior of the Ni 3d eg and t2g states
near the Fermi level, as well as those at the bottom of the valence bands, is
very similar to recently published SWARPES results for a related
LaSrMnO/SrTiO superlattice that was studied using the
same technique (Gray et al., Europhysics Letters 104, 17004 (2013)), which
further validates this experimental approach and our conclusions. Our
conclusions are also supported in several ways by comparison to DFT
calculations for the parent materials and the superlattice, including
layer-resolved density-of-states results
Non-lamellar lipid assembly at interfaces: controlling layer structure by responsive nanogel particles
Biological membranes do not only occur as planar bilayer structures, but depending on the lipid composition, can also curve into intriguing threedimensional structures. In order to fully understand the biological implications as well as to reveal the full potential for applications, e.g. for drug delivery and other biomedical devices, of such structures, well-defined model systems are required. Here, we discuss the formation of lipid nonlamellar liquid crystalline (LC) surface layers spin-coated from the constituting lipids followed by hydration of the lipid layer. We demonstrate that hybrid lipid polymer films can be formed with different properties compared with the neat lipid LC layers. The nanostructure and morphologies of the lipid films formed reflect those in the bulk. Most notably, mixed lipid layers, which are composed of glycerol monooleate and diglycerol monooleate with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanogels, can form films of reverse cubic phases that are capable of responding to temperature stimulus. Owing to the presence of the nanogel particles, changing the temperature not only regulates the hydration of the cubic phase lipid films, but also the lateral organization of the lipid domains within the lipid self-assembled film. This opens up the possibility for new nanostructured materials based on lipid-polymer responsive layers
TOF-OFF: A method for determining focal positions in tightly focused free-electron laser experiments by measurement of ejected ions
Pulse intensities greater than 1017 Watt/cm2 were reached at the FLASH soft X-ray laser in Hamburg, Germany, using an off-axis parabolic mirror to focus 15 fs pulses of 5-70 μJ energy at 13.5 nm wavelength to a micron-sized spot. We describe the interaction of such pulses with niobium and vanadium targets and their deuterides. The beam produced craters in the solid targets, and we measured the kinetic energy of ions ejected from these craters. Ions with several keV kinetic energy were observed from craters approaching 5 μm in depth when the sample was at best focus. We also observed the onset of saturation in both ion acceleration and ablation with pulse intensities exceeding 1016 W/cm2, when the highest detected ion energies and the crater depths tend to saturate with increasing intensity. A general difficulty in working with micron and sub-micron focusing optics is finding the exact focus of the beam inside a vacuum chamber. Here we propose a direct method to measure the focal position to a resolution better than the Rayleigh length. The method is based on the correlation between the energies of ejected ions and the physical dimensions of the craters. We find that the focus position can be quickly determined from the ion time-of-flight (TOF) data as the target is scanned through the expected focal region. The method does not require external access to the sample or venting the vacuum chamber. Profile fitting employed to analyze the TOF data can extend resolution beyond the actual scanning step size. © 2011 Elsevier B.V