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SRC Users' Meeting - Synchrotron Radiation Center - University of ...

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MOMENTUM DEPENDENT LOW ENERGY LOSSES IN CORE<br />

LEVEL PHOTOEMISSION SPECTRA OF POORLY CONDUCTING<br />

METALS?<br />

Hartmut Höchst and Christian R. Ast<br />

<strong>Synchrotron</strong> <strong>Radiation</strong> <strong>Center</strong>, <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Wisconsin-Madison<br />

3731 Schneider Drive, Stoughton, WI, 53589<br />

The availability <strong>of</strong> high-quality samples having low impurity levels and good<br />

structural quality combined with instrumental improvements in synchrotron radiation<br />

beam lines and electron energy analyzers <strong>of</strong> high energy resolution led recently to<br />

photoemission core-level spectra exhibiting additional features which were previously<br />

not seen. Photoemission line-shape changes or multiple core-level components can occur<br />

through surface modifications, crystal-field splitting, vibrational contributions and<br />

excitations <strong>of</strong> electrons or phonons. [1] The theory <strong>of</strong> core-level photoemission and<br />

aspects <strong>of</strong> intrinsic and extrinsic excitations associated with the photo-hole, or<br />

photoelectron, were recently restated in a series <strong>of</strong> papers by Hedin and coworkers.[2]<br />

The relative strength <strong>of</strong> low energy excitations accompanying the “main line”<br />

photoemission spectrum is directly related to the dc resistivity and can be quite<br />

significant in materials <strong>of</strong> poor conductivity such as small-gap superconductors and<br />

semimetals.[3]<br />

We report angle resolved core-level photoemission spectra <strong>of</strong> the semimetals Sb<br />

and Bi where we observe a multiple peak structure separated by ~170-300 meV towards<br />

higher energy from the main 4d and 5d components, respectively.[4,5] Utilizing photons<br />

ranging from 30-150 eV, angular scans along the k-direction normal to the (111) surface<br />

and k || scans along high symmetry directions <strong>of</strong> the surface Brillouin-zone (SBZ), we find<br />

dispersion in the split-<strong>of</strong>f components commensurate with the bulk and surface Brillouinzone<br />

periodicity. Additionally, the peak width and intensity <strong>of</strong> the split-<strong>of</strong>f peak oscillates<br />

between final state symmetry points.<br />

From the wealth <strong>of</strong> accumulated information, we dismiss an earlier claim by<br />

Patthey et al. assigning the additional feature in the Bi 5d spectra to a surface- shifted<br />

component.[6] Since the d 5/2 and d 3/2 components show the same features symmetry<br />

arguments rule out crystal-field effects as the source <strong>of</strong> the observed peak splitting. The<br />

data can be explained by a k-dependent loss function consisting <strong>of</strong> several characteristic<br />

direct and indirect low energy interband transitions excited in various parts <strong>of</strong> the bulk<br />

Brillouin zone.<br />

Acknowledgements<br />

The <strong>Synchrotron</strong> <strong>Radiation</strong> <strong>Center</strong> (<strong>SRC</strong>) is funded by the National Science Foundation<br />

(NSF) under Grant No. DMR-0884402.<br />

References<br />

[1] J. N. Andersen, T. Balasubramanian, C.-O. Almbladh, et al., Physical Review Letters<br />

86, 4398 (2001).<br />

[2] L. Hedin and J. D. Lee, Physical Review B 64, 115109 (2001).

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