Dielectric response effects in attosecond time-resolved streaked photoelectron spectra of metal surfaces

The release of conduction-band electrons from a metal surface by a sub-femtosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulse, and their propagation through the solid, provokes a dielectric response in the solid that acts back on the photoelectron wave packet. We calculated the (wake) potential associated with this photoelectron self-interaction in terms of bulk and surface plasmon excitations and show that it induces a considerable, XUV-frequency-dependent temporal shift in laser-streaked XUV photoemission spectra, suggesting the observation of the ultrafast solid-state dielectric response in contemporary streaked photoemission experiments.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figures, submitted to PR

Microscopic theory of resonant soft x-ray scattering in systems with charge order

We present a microscopic theory of resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSXS) that accounts for the delocalized character of valence electrons. Unlike past approaches defined in terms of form factors for atoms or clusters, we develop a functional determinant method that allows us to treat realistic band structures. This method builds upon earlier theoretical work in mesoscopic physics and accounts for both excitonic effects as well as the orthogonality catastrophe arising from interaction between the core hole and the valence band electrons. Comparing to RSXS measurements from stripe-ordered LBCO, we show that the two-peak structure observed near the O K edge can be understood as arising from dynamic nesting within the canonical cuprate band structure. Our results provide evidence for reasonably well-defined, high-energy quasiparticlesComment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Resonant Photoelectron Diffraction with circularly polarized light

Resonant angle scanned x-ray photoelectron diffraction (RXPD) allows the determination of the atomic and magnetic structure of surfaces and interfaces. For the case of magnetized nickel the resonant L2 excitation with circularly polarized light yields electrons with a dichroic signature from which the dipolar part may be retrieved. The corresponding L2MM and L3MM Auger electrons carry different angular momenta since their source waves rotate the dichroic dipole in the electron emission patterns by distinct angles

Echo of the Quantum Phase Transition of CeCu6−x_{6-x}Aux_x in XPS: Breakdown of Kondo Screening

We present an X-ray photoemission study of the heavy-fermion system CeCu$_{6-x}$Au$_x$ across the magnetic quantum phase transition of this compound at temperatures above the single-ion Kondo temperature $T_K$. In dependence of the Au concentration $x$ we observe a sudden change of the $f$-occupation number $n_f$ and the core-hole potential $U_{df}$ at the critical concentration $x_c=0.1$. We interpret these findings in the framework of the single-impurity Anderson model. Our results are in excellent agreement with findings from earlier UPS measurements %\cite{klein08qpt} and provide further information about the precursors of quantum criticality at elevated temperatures.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; published version, references updated, minor changes in wordin

Electron-phonon coupling and its evidence in the photoemission spectra of lead

We present a detailed study on the influence of strong electron-phonon coupling to the photoemission spectra of lead. Representing the strong-coupling regime of superconductivity, the spectra of lead show characteristic features that demonstrate the correspondence of physical properties in the normal and the superconducting state, as predicted by the Eliashberg theory. These features appear on an energy scale of a few meV and are accessible for photoemission only by using modern spectrometers with high resolution in energy and angle.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Renormalization of f-levels away from the Fermi energy in electron excitation spectroscopies: Density functional results of Nd2−x_{2-x}Cex_xCuO4_4

Relaxation energies for photoemission, when an occupied electronic state is excited, and for inverse photoemission, when an empty state is filled, are calculated within the density functional theory with application to Nd$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_4$. The associated relaxation energies are obtained by computing differences in total energies between the ground state and an excited state in which one hole or electron is added into the system. The relaxation energies of f-electrons are found to be of the order of several eV's, indicating that f-bands will appear substantially away from the Fermi energy ($E_F$) in their spectroscopic images, even if these bands lie near $E_F$. Our analysis explains why it would be difficult to observe f electrons at the $E_F$ even in the absence of strong electronic correlations.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl

Band Mapping in One-Step Photoemission Theory: Multi-Bloch-Wave Structure of Final States and Interference Effects

A novel Bloch-waves based one-step theory of photoemission is developed within the augmented plane wave formalism. Implications of multi-Bloch-wave structure of photoelectron final states for band mapping are established. Interference between Bloch components of initial and final states leads to prominent spectral features with characteristic frequency dispersion experimentally observed in VSe_2 and TiTe_2. Interference effects together with a non-free-electron nature of final states strongly limit the applicability of the common direct transitions band mapping approach, making the tool of one-step analysis indispensable.Comment: 4 jpg figure

Wave-vector dependent intensity variations of the Kondo peak in photoemission from CePd3_3

Strong angle-dependent intensity variations of the Fermi-level feature are observed in 4d - 4f resonant photoemission spectra of CePd$_3$(111), that reveal the periodicity of the lattice and largest intensity close to the Gamma points of the surface Brillouin zone. In the framework of a simplified periodic Anderson model the phenomena may quantitatively be described by a wave-vector dependence of the electron hopping matrix elements caused by Fermi-level crossings of non-4f-derived energy bands

Scanning the Quark-Gluon Plasma with Charmonium

We suggest the variation of charmonium suppression with Feynman x_F in heavy ion collisions as a novel and sensitive probe for the properties of the matter created in such reactions. In contrast to the proton-nucleus case where nuclear suppression is weakest at small x_F, final state interactions with the comoving matter create a minimum at x_F=0, which is especially deep and narrow if a quark-gluon plasma is formed. While a particularly strong effect is predicted at SPS, at the higher RHIC energy it overlaps with the expected sharp variation with x_F of nuclear effects and needs comparison with proton-nucleus data. If thermal enhancement of J/\Psi production takes over at the energies of RHIC and LHC, it will form an easily identified peak, rather than dip in x_F dependence. We predict a steep dependence on centrality and suggest that this new probe is complementary to the dependence on transverse energy, and is more sensitive to a scenario of final state interactions.Comment: 5 pages including 3 figures. Stylistic and clarifying corrections are mad