96 research outputs found
Resonant X-Ray Scattering Measurements of a Spatial Modulation of the Cu 3d and O 2p Energies in Stripe-Ordered Cuprate Superconductors
A prevailing description of the stripe phase in underdoped cuprate
superconductors is that the charge carriers (holes) phase segregate on a
microscopic scale into hole rich and hole poor regions. We report resonant
elastic x-ray scattering measurements of stripe-ordered
LaNdSrCuO at the Cu and O absorption
edges that identify an additional feature of stripe order. Analysis of the
energy dependence of the scattering intensity reveals that the dominant
signature of the stripe order is a spatial modulation in the energies of Cu 3d
and O 2p states rather than the large modulation of the charge density
(valence) envisioned in the common stripe paradigm. These energy shifts are
interpreted as a spatial modulation of the electronic structure and may point
to a valence-bond-solid interpretation of the stripe phase.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Electronic depth profiles with atomic layer resolution from resonant soft x-ray reflectivity
The analysis of x-ray reflectivity data from artificial heterostructures
usually relies on the homogeneity of optical properties of the constituent
materials. However, when the x-ray energy is tuned to an absorption edge, this
homogeneity no longer exists. Within the same material, spatial regions
containing elements at resonance will have optical properties very different
from regions without resonating sites. In this situation, models assuming
homogeneous optical properties throughout the material can fail to describe the
reflectivity adequately. As we show here, resonant soft x-ray reflectivity is
sensitive to these variations, even though the wavelength is typically large as
compared to the atomic distances over which the optical properties vary. We
have therefore developed a scheme for analyzing resonant soft x-ray
reflectivity data, which takes the atomic structure of a material into account
by "slicing" it into atomic planes with characteristic optical properties.
Using LaSrMnO4 as an example, we discuss both the theoretical and experimental
implications of this approach. Our analysis not only allows to determine
important structural information such as interface terminations and stacking of
atomic layers, but also enables to extract depth-resolved spectroscopic
information with atomic resolution, thus enhancing the capability of the
technique to study emergent phenomena at surfaces and interfaces.Comment: Completely overhauled with respect to the previous version due to
peer revie
Soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism study on Gd-doped EuO thin films
We report on the growth and characterization of ferromagnetic Gd-doped EuO
thin films. We prepared samples with Gd concentrations up to 11% by means of
molecular beam epitaxy under distillation conditions, which allows a very
precise control of the doping concentration and oxygen stoichiometry. Using
soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the Eu and Gd M4,5 edges, we found
that the Curie temperature ranged from 69 K for pure stoichiometric EuO to
about 170 K for the film with the optimal Gd doping of around 4%. We also show
that the Gd magnetic moment couples ferromagnetically to that of Eu.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Intrinsic and extrinsic x-ray absorption effects in soft x-ray diffraction from the superstructure in magnetite
We studied the (001/2) diffraction peak in the low-temperature phase of
magnetite (Fe3O4) using resonant soft x-ray diffraction (RSXD) at the Fe-L2,3
and O-K resonance. We studied both molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE) grown thin
films and in-situ cleaved single crystals. From the comparison we have been
able to determine quantitatively the contribution of intrinsic absorption
effects, thereby arriving at a consistent result for the (001/2) diffraction
peak spectrum. Our data also allow for the identification of extrinsic effects,
e.g. for a detailed modeling of the spectra in case a "dead" surface layer is
present that is only absorbing photons but does not contribute to the
scattering signal.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev.
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