@phdthesis{Bradeanu2005, author = {Bradeanu, Ioana Lavinia}, title = {Photoionization and excitation of free variable size van der Waals clusters in the inner shell regime}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-16372}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2005}, abstract = {The studies presented in this thesis deal with resonant and non-resonant excitation of free variable size clusters using synchrotron radiation in the soft X-ray regime. The post collision interaction (PCI) effect is investigated in free variable size krypton and argon clusters near the Kr 3d and Ar 2p ionization energies. The core ionization energies of surface and bulk sites in variable size clusters can be clearly distinguished. This is mostly due to the polarization screening. It is found that the asymmetry, which is a consequence of PCI, is characteristically smaller for clusters than for isolated atoms. Moreover, there is less asymmetry for bulk sites than for surface sites in variable size rare gas clusters. We assign the results in terms of mechanisms that are based on quantum mechanical models of post collision interaction. Complementary experiments on the photoionization of free van der Waals clusters are performed by using zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy in the Ar 2p-, Kr 3d-, Ne 1s-, and N2-regimes. The experimental approach is also suitable to detect cluster size dependent changes in electronic structure. This also allows us to study post collision interaction in variable size clusters. The parameters of the PCI profiles deduced for ZEKE experiments indicate that there are no significant changes in core ionization dynamics compared to near-threshold experiments. Results from model calculations in Kr 3d ionization energy indicate that different geometric sites can be clearly distinguished from each other by their substantial shift in Kr 3d ionization energy, though the dimer shows almost the same Kr 3d ionization energy as the free atom. A comparison with the experimental results indicates that there is resemblance with the model calculations, even though close-lying ionization energies are blended and require deconvolutions of the experimental spectra. It is evident from the present work that one can observe distinct shifts in core ionization energies in van der Waals clusters that are formed in wide size distributions of a jet expansion. The emission of ultraviolet fluorescence radiation from variable size argon clusters is investigated with high spectral resolution in the Ar 2p-excitation regime. The fluorescence excitation spectra reveal strong fluorescence intensity in the Ar 2p-continuum, but no evidence for the occurrence of discrete low-lying core-exciton states in the near-edge regime. This finding is different from the absorption and photoionization cross sections of argon clusters and the solid. The dispersed fluorescence shows a broad molecular band centered near 280 nm. The present results are consistent with the formation of singly charged, excited moieties within the clusters, which are assigned as sources of the radiative relaxation in the 280 nm regime. A fast energy transfer process (interatomic Coulombic decay, ICD) is assigned to be primarily the origin of these singly charged, excited cations besides intra-cluster electron impact ionization by Auger electrons. Our findings give possibly the first experimental evidence for ICD in the core level regime. Free, variable size nitrogen clusters are investigated in the N 1s excitation regime in comparison with the free molecule and solid nitrogen. The conversion of Rydberg states into core excitons, surface and bulk, was studied. The experimental results are simulated by ab initio calculations using (N2)13 as a reasonable prototype cluster structure that allows us to simulate both surface and bulk properties in comparison with the isolated molecule. The present results clearly show that there are specific properties, such as molecular orientation, in molecular van der Waals clusters, which do not exist in atomic van der Waals clusters. It is shown that inner and outer surface sites give rise to distinct energy shifts of the low lying surface core excitons.}, subject = {Photoionisation}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Gerlach2023, author = {Gerlach, Marius David}, title = {Spectroscopy of fulminic acid HCNO with VUV- and soft X-ray radiation}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-32972}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-329722}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Die Fulmins{\"a}ure HCNO wurde zum ersten Mal im Jahre 1800 synthetisiert und wurde seitdem immer wieder verwendet, um neue chemische Konzepte und Theorien zu entwickeln. Durch die erstmalige Entdeckung der Fulmins{\"a}ure im Weltall im Jahr 2009 ist die Fulmins{\"a}ure heutzutage vor allem im Bereich der Astrochemie interessant. In dieser Doktorarbeit haben wir die Interaktion von Fulmins{\"a}ure mit interstellar Strahlung, genauer mit VUV- sowie weicher R{\"o}ntgenstrahlung untersucht. In Zuge der Messung mit VUV-Strahlung konnten wir das Photoelektronenspektrum von HCNO mit hoher Aufl{\"o}sung aufnehmen und den Renner-Teller verzerrten Grundzustand des Kations mit Hilfe von Wellenpaketdynamiksimulationen beschreiben. Außerdem konnten wir den Mechanismus der dissoziativen Photoionisation bis zu einer Bindungsenergie von 15.3 eV aufkl{\"a}ren. Mit weicher R{\"o}ntgenstrahlung ist es m{\"o}glich die 1s Elektronen des HCNO zu ionisieren oder anzuregen. Der erzeugte Zustand zerf{\"a}llt anschließend durch einen Auger-Meitner Prozess, bei dem ein Auger-Elektron erzeugt wird. Im Zuge der Auger-Elektronenspektroskopie haben wir die kinetische Energie dieser Elektronen gemessen und konnten mittels quantenchemischer Rechnung die beobachten Signale analysieren. Wir untersuchten außerdem, wie das durch den Auger-Meitner Prozess erzeugte Ion zerf{\"a}llt. Hier konnten wir eine Selektivit{\"a}t des Zerfalls beobachten, je nachdem welches der 1s Elektronen im ersten Schritt angeregt oder ionisiert wurde. Diese Beobachtung konnten wir durch ein einfaches thermodynamisches Argument erkl{\"a}ren. Diese Arbeit gibt also ein vollst{\"a}ndiges Bild {\"u}ber die Interaktion von HCNO mit ionisierender Strahlung. Die erhaltenen Daten k{\"o}nnten f{\"u}r die Beschreibung von HCNO im interstellaren Raum Bedeutung haben.}, subject = {Chemie}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hauschild2015, author = {Hauschild, Dirk}, title = {Electron and soft x-ray spectroscopy of indium sulfide buffer layers and the interfaces in Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2-based thin-film solar cells}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-126766}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2015}, abstract = {In this thesis, thin-film solar cells on the basis of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 (CIGSSe) were investigated. Until today, most high efficient CIGSSe-based solar cells use a toxic and wetchemical deposited CdS buffer layer, which doesn't allow a dry inline production. However, a promising and well-performing alternative buffer layer, namely indium sulfide, has been found which doesn't comprise these disadvantages. In order to shed light on these well-performing devices, the surfaces and in particular the interfaces which play a major role for the charge carrier transport are investigated in the framework of this thesis. Both, the chemical and electronic properties of the solar cells' interfaces were characterized. In case of the physical vapor deposition of an InxSy-based buffer layer, the cleaning step of the CdS chemical-bath deposition is not present and thus changes of the absorber surface have to be taken into account. Therefore, adsorbate formation, oxidation, and segregation of absorber elements in dependence of the storing temperature and the humidity are investigated in the first part of this thesis. The efficiencies of CIGSSe-based solar cells with an InxSy buffer layer depend on the nominal indium concentration x and display a maximum for x = 42 \%. In this thesis, InxSy samples with a nominal indium concentration of 40.2\% ≤ x ≤ 43.2\% were investigated by surface-sensitive and surface-near bulk-sensitive techniques, namely with photoemission spectroscopy (PES) and x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). The surfaces of the films were found to be sulfur-poor and indium-rich in comparison with stoichiometric In2S3. Moreover, a direct determination of the band alignment at the InxSy/CISSe interface in dependence of the nominal indium concentration x was conducted with the help of PES and inverse PES (IPES) and a flat band alignment was found for x = 42 \%. In order to study the impact of a heat treatment as it occurs during subsequent cell process steps, the indium sulfide-buffered absorbers were annealed for 30 minutes under UHV conditions at 200 °C after the initial data set was taken. Besides a reported enhanced solar cell performance, a significant copper diffusion from the absorber into the buffer layer takes place due to the thermal treatment. Accordingly, the impact of the copper diffusion on the hidden InxSy/CISSe interface was discussed and for x = 40.2\% a significant cliff (downwards step in the conduction band) is observed. For increasing x, the alignment in the conduction band turns into a small upwards step (spike) for the region 41\% ≤ x ≤ 43.2\%. This explains the optimal solar cell performance for this indium contents. In a further step, the sodium-doped indium sulfide buffer which leads to significantly higher efficient solar cells was investigated. It was demonstrated by PES/IPES that the enhanced performance can be ascribed to a significant larger surface band gap in comparison with undoped InxSy. The occurring spike in the Na:InxSy/CISSe band alignment gets reduced due to a Se diffusion induced by the thermal treatment. Furthermore, after the thermal treatment the sodium doped indium sulfide layer experiences a copper diffusion which is reduced by more than a factor of two compared to pure InxSy. Next, the interface between the Na:InxSy buffer layer and the i-ZnO (i = intrinsic, non-deliberately doped), as a part of the transparent front contact was analyzed. The i-ZnO/Na:InxSy interface shows significant interdiffusion, leading to the formation of, e.g., ZnS and hence to a reduction of the nominal cliff in the conduction band alignment. In the last part of this thesis, the well-established surface-sensitive reflective electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) was utilized to study the CIGSSe absorber, the InxSy buffer, and annealed InxSy buffer surfaces. By fitting the characteristic inelastic scattering cross sections λK(E) with Drude-Lindhard oscillators the dielectric function was identified. The determined dielectric functions are in good agreement with values from bulk-sensitive optical measurements on indium sulfide layers. In contrast, for the chalcopyrite-based absorber significant differences appear. In particular, a substantial larger surface band gap of the CIGSSe surface of E^Ex_Gap = (1.4±0.2) eV in comparison with bulk values is determined. This provides for the first time an independent verification of earlier PES/IPES results. Finally, the electrons' inelastic mean free paths l for the three investigated surfaces are compared for different primary energies with theoretical values and the universal curve.}, subject = {Photoelektronenspektroskopie}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Hoepfner2012, author = {H{\"o}pfner, Philipp Alexander}, title = {Two-Dimensional Electron Systems at Surfaces — Spin-Orbit Interaction and Electronic Correlations}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-78876}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2012}, abstract = {This thesis addresses three different realizations of a truly two-dimensional electron system (2DES), established at the surface of elemental semiconductors, i.e., Pt/Si(111), Au/Ge(111), and Sn/Si(111). Characteristic features of atomic structures at surfaces have been studied using scanning tunneling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction with special emphasis on Pt deposition onto Si(111). Topographic inspection reveals that Pt atoms agglomerate as trimers, which represent the structural building block of phase-slip domains. Surprisingly, each trimer is rotated by 30° with respect to the substrate, which results in an unexpected symmetry breaking. In turn, this represents a unique example of a chiral structure at a semiconductor surface, and marks Pt/Si(111) as a promising candidate for catalytic processes at the atomic scale. Spin-orbit interactions (SOIs) play a significant role at surfaces involving heavy adatoms. As a result, a lift of the spin degeneracy in the electronic states, termed as Rashba effect, may be observed. A candidate system to exhibit such physics is Au/Ge(111). Its large hexagonal Fermi sheet is suggested to be spin-split by calculations within the density functional theory. Experimental clarification is obtained by exploiting the unique capabilities of three-dimensional spin detection in spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Besides verification of the spin splitting, the in-plane components of the spin are shown to possess helical character, while also a prominent rotation out of this plane is observed along straight sections of the Fermi surface. Surprisingly and for the first time in a 2DES, additional in-plane rotations of the spin are revealed close to high symmetry directions. This complex spin pattern must originate from crystalline anisotropies, and it is best described by augmenting the original Rashba model with higher order Dresselhaus-like SOI terms. The alternative use of group-IV adatoms at a significantly reduced coverage drastically changes the basic properties of a 2DES. Electron localization is strongly enhanced, and the ground state characteristics will be dominated by correlation effects then. Sn/Si(111) is scrutinized with this regard. It serves as an ideal realization of a triangular lattice, that inherently suffers from spin frustration. Consequently, long-range magnetic order is prohibited, and the ground state is assumed to be either a spiral antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator or a spin liquid. Here, the single-particle spectral function is utilized as a fundamental quantity to address the complex interplay of geometric frustration and electronic correlations. In particular, this is achieved by combining the complementary strengths of ab initio local density approximation (LDA) calculations, state-of-the-art angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, and the sophisticated many-body LDA+DCA. In this way, the evolution of a shadow band and a band backfolding incompatible with a spiral AFM order are unveiled. Moreover, beyond nearest-neighbor hopping processes are crucial here, and the spectral features must be attributed to a collinear AFM ground state, contrary to common expectation for a frustrated spin lattice.}, subject = {Halbleiteroberfl{\"a}che}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Kissner2022, author = {Kißner, Katharina}, title = {Manipulation of electronic properties in strongly correlated Cerium-based surface alloys}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-27306}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-273067}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Photoelectron spectroscopy proves as a versatile tool for investigating various aspects of the electronic structure in strongly correlated electron systems. Influencing the manifestation of strong correlation in Ce-based surface alloys is the main task of this work. It is shown, that the manifestation of the Kondo ground state is influenced by a multitude of parameters such as the choice of the metal binding partner in binary Ce compounds, the surface alloy layer thickness and accompanying variations in the lattice structure as well as the interfaces to substrate or vacuum. Gaining access to these parameters allows to directly influence essential state variables, such as the f level occupancy nf or the Kondo temperature TK. The center of this work are the intermetallic thin films of CePt5/Pt(111) and CeAgx/Ag(111). By utilizing different excitation energies, photoemission spectroscopy provides access to characteristic features of Kondo physics in the valence band, such as the Kondo resonance and its spin-orbit partner at the Fermi level, as well as the multiplet structure of the Ce 3d core levels. In this work both approaches are applied to CePt5/Pt(111) to determine nf and TK for a variety of surface alloy layer thicknesses. A temperature dependent study of the Ce 3d core levels allows to determine the systems TK for the different layer thicknesses. This leads to TK ≈200-270K in the thin layer thickness regime and TK >280K for larger layer thicknesses. These results are confirmed by fitting the Ce 3d multiplet based on the Gunnarsson-Sch{\"o}nhammer formalism for core level spectroscopy and additionally by valence band photoemission spectra of the respective Kondo resonances. The influence of varying layer thickness on the manifestation of strong correlation is subsequently studied for the surface alloy CeAgx/Ag(111). Furthermore, the heavy element Bi is added, to investigate the effects of strong spin-orbit coupling on the electronic structure of the surface alloy.}, subject = {Korrelation}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Krause2009, author = {Krause, Stefan}, title = {Determination of the transport levels in thin films of organic semiconductors}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-40470}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2009}, abstract = {The approach of using the combination of Ultraviolet (UPS) and Inverse Photoemission (IPS) to determine the transport levels in thin films of organic semiconductors is the scope of this work. For this matter all influences on the peak position and width in Photoelectron Spectroscopy are discussed with a special focus on organic semiconductors. Many of these influences are shown with experimental results of the investigation of diindenoperylene on Ag(111). These findings are applied to inorganic semiconductors silicon in order to establish the use of UPS and IPS on a well-understood system. Finally, the method is used to determine the transport level of several organic semiconductors (PTCDA, Alq3, CuPc, DIP, PBI-H4) and the corresponding exciton binding energies are calculated by comparison to optical absorption data.}, subject = {Organischer Halbleiter}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Lutz2018, author = {Lutz, Peter}, title = {Surface and Interface Electronic Structure in Ferroelectric BaTiO\(_3\)}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-159057}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Transition metal oxides (TMO) represent a highly interesting material class as they exhibit a variety of different emergent phenomena including multiferroicity and superconductivity. These effects result from a significant interplay of charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom within the correlated d-electrons. Oxygen vacancies (OV) at the surface of certain d0 TMO release free charge carriers and prompt the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). Barium titanate (BaTiO3) is a prototypical and promising d0 TMO. It displays ferroelectricity at room temperature and features several structural phase transitions, from cubic over tetragonal (at room temperature) and orthorhombic to rhombohedral. The spontaneous electric polarization in BaTiO3 can be used to manipulate the physical properties of adjacent materials, e.g. in thin films. Although the macroscopic properties of BaTiO3 are studied in great detail, the microscopic electronic structure at the surface and interface of BaTiO3 is not sufficiently understood yet due to the complex interplay of correlation within the d states, oxygen vacancies at the surface, ferroelectricity in the bulk and the structural phase transitions in BaTiO3. This thesis investigates the electronic structure of different BaTiO3 systems by means of angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES). The valence band of BaTiO3 single crystals is systematically characterized and compared to theoretical band structure calculations. A finite p-d hybridization of titanium and oxygen states was inferred at the high binding energy side of the valence band. In BaTiO3 thin films, the occurrence of spectral weight near the Fermi level could be linked to a certain amount of OV at the surface which effectively dopes the host system. By a systematic study of the metallic surface states as a function of temperature and partial oxygen pressure, a model was established which reflects the depletion and accumulation of charge carriers at the surface of BaTiO3. An instability at T ~ 285K assumes a volatile behavior of these surface states. The ferroelectricity in BaTiO3 allows a control of the electronic structure at the interface of BaTiO3-based heterostructures. Therefore, the interface electronic structure of Bi/BaTiO3 was studied with respect to the strongly spin-orit coupled states in Bi by also including a thickness dependent characterization. The ARPES results, indeed, confirm the presence of Rashba spin-split electronic states in the bulk band gap of the ferroelectric substrate. By varying the film thickness in Bi/BaTiO3, it was able to modify the energy position and the Fermi vector of the spin-split states. This observation is associated with the appearance of an interface state which was observed for very low film thickness. Both spectral findings suggest a significant coupling between the Bi films and BaTiO3.}, subject = {Bariumtitanat}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Maass2017, author = {Maaß, Henriette}, title = {Spin-dependence of angle-resolved photoemission from spin-orbit split surface states}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-151025}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy is the prime method to investigate spin polarized electronic states at solid state surfaces. In how far the spin polarization of an emitted photoelectron reflects the intrinsic spin character of an electronic state is the main question in the work at hand. It turns out that the measured spin polarization is strongly influenced by experimental conditions, namely by the polarization of the incoming radiation and the excitation energy. The photoemission process thus plays a non-negligible role in a spin-sensitive measurement. This work is dedicated to unravel the relation between the result of a spin-resolved measurement and the spin character in the ground state and, therefore, to gain a deep understanding of the spin-dependent photoemission process. Materials that exhibit significant spin-splittings in their electronic structure, owing to a strong spin-orbit coupling, serve as model systems for the investigations in this work. Therefore, systems with large Rashba-type spin-splittings as BiTeI(0001) and the surface alloys BiAg2/Ag(111) and PbAg2/Ag(111) are investigated. Likewise, the surface electronic structure of the topological insulators Bi2Te2Se(0001) and Bi2Te3(0001) are analyzed. Light polarization dependent photoemission experiments serve as a probe of the orbital composition of electronic states. The knowledge of the orbital structure helps to disentangle the spin-orbital texture inherent to the different surface states, when in addition the spin-polarization is probed. It turns out that the topological surface state of Bi2Te2Se(0001) as well as the Rashba-type surface state of BiTeI(0001) exhibit chiral spin-textures associated with the p-like in-plane orbitals. In particular, opposite chiralities are coupled to either tangentially or radially aligned p-like orbitals, respectively. The results presented here are thus evidence that a coupling between spin- and orbital part of the wave function occurs under the influence of spin-orbit coupling, independent of the materials topology. Systematic photon energy dependent measurements of the out-of-plane spin polarization of the topological surface state of Bi2Te3(0001) reveal a strong dependence and even a reversal of the sign of the photoelectron spin polarization with photon energy. Similarly, the measured spin component perpendicular to the wave vector of the surface state of BiAg2/Ag(111) shows strong modulations and sign reversals when the photon energy is changed. In BiAg2/Ag(111) the variations in the photoelectron spin polarization are accompanied by significant changes and even a complete suppression of the photoemission intensity from the surface state, indicating that the variations of the spin polarization are strongly related to the photoemission cross section. This relation is finally analyzed in detail by employing a simple model, which is based on an evaluation of the transition matrix elements that describe the presented experiments. The model shows that the underlying cause for the observed photoelectron spin reversals can be found in the coupling of the spin structure to the spatial part of the initial state wave function, revealing the crucial role of spin-orbit interaction in the initial state wave function. The model is supported by ab initio photoemission calculations, which show strong agreement with the experimental results.}, subject = {Photoelektronenspektroskopie}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Metzger2021, author = {Metzger, Christian Thomas Peter}, title = {Development of photoemission spectroscopy techniques for the determination of the electronic and geometric structure of organic adsorbates}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-22952}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229525}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The projects presented in this thesis cover the examination of the electronic and structural properties of organic thin films at noble metal-organic interfaces. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy is used as the primary investigative tool due to the connection of the emitted photoelectrons to the electronic structure of the sample. The surveyed materials are of relevance for fundamental research and practical applications on their own, but also serve as archetypes for the photoemission techniques presented throughout the four main chapters of this thesis. The techniques are therefore outlined with their adaptation to other systems in mind and a special focus on the proper description of the final state. The most basic description of the final state that is still adequate for the evaluation of photoemission data is a plane wave. Its simplicity enables a relatively intuitive interpretation of photoemission data, since the initial and final state are related to one another by a Fourier transform and a geometric factor in this approximation. Moreover, the initial states of some systems can be reconstructed in three dimensions by combining photoemission measurements at various excitation energies. This reconstruction can even be carried out solely based on experimental data by using suitable iterative algorithms. Since the approximation of the final state in the photoemission process by a plane wave is not valid in all instances, knowledge on the limitations of its applicability is indispensable. This can be gained by a comparison to experimental data as well as calculations with a more detailed description of the photoemission final state. One possible appraoch is based on independently emitting atoms where the coherent superposition of partial, atomic final states produces the total final state. This approach can also be used for more intricate studies on organic thin films. To this end, experimental data can be related to theoretical calculations to gain extensive insights into the structural and electronic properties of molecules in organic thin films.}, subject = {ARPES}, language = {en} } @article{MukhopadhyaySchleierWirsingetal.2020, author = {Mukhopadhyay, Deb Pratim and Schleier, Domenik and Wirsing, Sara and Ramler, Jaqueline and Kaiser, Dustin and Reusch, Engelbert and Hemberger, Patrick and Preitschopf, Tobias and Krummenacher, Ivo and Engels, Bernd and Fischer, Ingo and Lichtenberg, Crispin}, title = {Methylbismuth: an organometallic bismuthinidene biradical}, series = {Chemical Science}, volume = {11}, journal = {Chemical Science}, number = {29}, doi = {10.1039/D0SC02410D}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-251657}, pages = {7562-7568}, year = {2020}, abstract = {We report the generation, spectroscopic characterization, and computational analysis of the first free (non-stabilized) organometallic bismuthinidene, BiMe. The title compound was generated in situ from BiMe\(_3\) by controlled homolytic Bi-C bond cleavage in the gas phase. Its electronic structure was characterized by a combination of photoion mass-selected threshold photoelectron spectroscopy and DFT as well as multi-reference computations. A triplet ground state was identified and an ionization energy (IE) of 7.88 eV was experimentally determined. Methyl abstraction from BiMe\(_3\) to give [BiMe(_2\)]• is a key step in the generation of BiMe. We reaveal a bond dissociation energy of 210 ± 7 kJ mol\(^{-1}\), which is substantially higher than the previously accepted value. Nevertheless, the homolytic cleavage of Me-BiMe\(_2\) bonds could be achieved at moderate temperatures (60-120 °C) in the condensed phase, suggesting that [BiMe\(_2\)]• and BiMe are accessible as reactive intermediates under these conditions.}, subject = {Photoelektronenspektroskopie}, language = {en} }