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In this dissertation the electronic and high-energy optical properties of thin nanoscale
films of the magnetic topological insulator (MTI) (V,Cr)y(BixSb1-x)2-yTe3 are studied
by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electron energy-loss
spectroscopy (EELS). Magnetic topological insulators are presently of broad interest
as the combination of ferromagnetism and spin-orbit coupling in these materials
leads to a new topological phase, the quantum anomalous Hall state (QAHS), with
dissipation less conduction channels. Determining and controlling the physical
properties of these complex materials is therefore desirable for a fundamental understanding
of the QAHS and for their possible application in spintronics. EELS can
directly probe the electron energy-loss function of a material from which one can
obtain the complex dynamic dielectric function by means of the Kramers-Kronig
transformation and the Drude-Lindhard model of plasmon oscillations.
The XPS core-level spectra in (V,Cr)y(BixSb1-x)2-yTe3 are analyzed in detail with
regards to inelastic background contributions. It is shown that the spectra can be
accurately described based on the electron energy-loss function obtained from an
independent EELS measurement. This allows for a comprehensive and quantitative
analysis of the XPS data, which will facilitate future core-level spectroscopy studies
in this class of topological materials. From the EELS data, furthermore, the bulk and
surface optical properties were estimated, and compared to ab initio calculations
based on density functional theory (DFT) performed in the GW approximation
for Sb2Te3. The experimental results show a good agreement with the calculated
complex dielectric function and the calculated energy-loss function. The positions of
the main plasmon modes reported here are expected to be generally similar in other
materials in this class of nanoscale TI films. Hence, the present work introduces
EELS as a powerful method to access the high-energy optical properties of TI
thin films. Based on the presented results it will be interesting to explore more
systematically the effects of stoichiometry, magnetic doping, film thickness and
surface morphology on the electron-loss function, potentially leading to a better
understanding of the complex interplay of structural, electronic, magnetic and
optical properties in MTI nanostructures.
Fascinating pictures that can be interpreted as showing molecular orbitals have been obtained with various imaging techniques. Among these, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) has emerged as a particularly powerful method. Orbital images have been used to underline the physical credibility of the molecular orbital concept. However, from the theory of the photoemission process it is evident that imaging experiments do not show molecular orbitals, but Dyson orbitals. The latter are not eigenstates of a single-particle Hamiltonian and thus do not fit into the usual simple interpretation of electronic structure in terms of molecular orbitals. In a combined theoretical and experimental study we thus check whether a Dyson-orbital and a molecular-orbital based interpretation of ARPES lead to differences that are relevant on the experimentally observable scale. We discuss a scheme that allows for approximately calculating Dyson orbitals with moderate computational effort. Electronic relaxation is taken into account explicitly. The comparison reveals that while molecular orbitals are frequently good approximations to Dyson orbitals, a detailed understanding of photoemission intensities may require one to go beyond the molecular orbital picture. In particular we clearly observe signatures of the Dyson-orbital character for an adsorbed semiconductor molecule in ARPES spectra when these are recorded over a larger momentum range than in earlier experiments.
Interaction between light and matter generates optical nonlinearities, which are particularly pronounced in the quantum strong coupling regime. When a single bosonic mode couples to a single fermionic mode, a Jaynes-Cummings (JC) ladder is formed, which we realize here using cavity photons and quantum dot excitons. We measure and model the coherent anharmonic response of this strongly coupled exciton-cavity system at resonance. Injecting two photons into the cavity, we demonstrate a \(\sqrt 2\) larger polariton splitting with respect to the vacuum Rabi splitting. This is achieved using coherent nonlinear spectroscopy, specifically four-wave mixing, where the coherence between the ground state and the first (second) rung of the JC ladder can be interrogated for positive (negative) delays. With increasing excitation intensity and thus rising average number of injected photons, we observe spectral signatures of the quantum-to-classical crossover of the strong coupling regime.
This work is investigating the electronic structure of organic thin films. A central question in this respect is the influence of the interaction between the molecules in the condensed phase and the interaction at metal-organic interfaces on the electronic properties. For this purpose the experimental methods Photoelectron Spectroscopy (PES) and Near Edge X-ray Absorption Finestructure Spectroscopy (NEXAFS) were applied with highest energy resolution. In addition, ab initio calculations were performed for the theoretical simulation of NEXFAS spectra. The investigation is mainly focussing on thin, vacuum sublimated films of aromatic model molecules with oxygen-containing functional groups (NTCDA, PTCDA, NDCA, BPDCA and ANQ) and Ag(111) surfaces. Due to their large, delocalised p-systems these molecules have very interesting properties for their application in electronic devices. Due to the high energy resolution of third generation synchrotron sources the vibronic fine structure in the NEXAFS spectra of these large molecules could be resolved for the first time in the condensed phase. A comparison of the data of the different molecules provides interesting insight into the coupling between electronic transition and vibronic excitation. Although for these molecules a variety of different vibronic modes exist, the NEXAFS data show that preferentially only on mode couples to each electronic transition. The high-resolution PES spectra of the molecules NTCDA, PTCDA, NDCA, BPDCA and ANQ show distinct differences thus providing a fingerprint for each investigated substance. A comparative analysis of the spectra enabled us to define the 1s binding energies of all chemically different carbon and oxygen atoms. Additional structures in the spectra can be assigned as shake-up satellites. The five molecules are an ideal model system for the investigation of fundamental aspects of core electron spectroscopy, such as initial and final state effects and satellites, that are influenced by the intra- and intermolecular electron distribution in the ground and core ionized state. An important aspect in this thesis is the spectroscopic investigation of structurally different NTCDA monolayer phases on the Ag(111) surface. Marked differences in the electronic structures of the different phases, that can be assigned to differences in the metal-adsorbate interaction, could be demonstrated by XPS and NEXAFS. The substrate bonding can be characterized as chemisorptive for both, the compressed as well as the relaxed NTCDA monolayer, which can be unambiguously deduced from the analysis of satellite structures in the O 1s and C 1s XPS spectra. These satellites are due to dynamic screening by charge transfer from the substrate. The NEXAFS data show consistently, that the NTCDA LUMO becomes partly occupied upon adsorption. Highly interesting phase transitions into disordered low-temperature phases occur upon cooling to 160 K for both, the compressed and the relaxed NTCDA monolayer. Thereby, the adsorbate-substrate bonding is increased and the NTCDA LUMO becomes completely occupied. This can be observed in the NEXAFS data, where transitions involving LUMO final states are quenched. Simultaneously, the XPS data show a distinctly decreased intensity of unscreened photoemission states due to enhanced charge transfer screening. In addition, a hysteresis behaviour could be demonstrated for the phase transition of the relaxed monolayer by temperature dependent NEXAFS experiments and the hysteresis curve was determined. The hysteresis could be quantified to approx. 20 K. From SPA-LEED experiments the activating energy for the phase transition of the relaxed monolayer upon cooling could be determined to 60 meV. Finally, a NEXAFS investigation of polyethylene samples with different comonomer content is presented. Differences in the absorption spectra between samples with different comonomer content could be unambiguously assigned to the different crystallinities of the samples by heating a highly crystalline sample in situ close to the melting temperature. Ab initio calculations on a model matrix of butane molecules show, that the spectra of crystalline and amorphous polyethylene differ distinctly due to the intermolecular interaction, which can be observed best for resonances with strong Rydberg character. Thus, the differences in the PE spectra can be explained by the superposition of the signatures of crystalline and amorphous moieties, that are mixed according to the respective crystallinity.
In dieser Arbeit sind Methoden der optischen Spektroskopie, insbesondere die Ramanspektroskopie (RS) und die Reflexions-Anisotropie-Spektroskopie (RAS), angewandt worden, um die Oberflächen von II-VI Halbleitern zu charakterisieren. Für die experimentellen Untersuchungen wurde eine eigens für diesen Zweck entwickelte UHV-Optikkammer benutzt. Diese einzigartige Möglichkeit, II-VI Halbleiterproben aus einer state-of-the-art MBE-Anlage mit einer UHV-Optikanlage zu kombinieren hat gezeigt, dass optische Spektroskopie sehr gut dafür geeignet ist, strukturelle Eigenschaften, z.B. Rekonstruktionen, und chemische Bindungen an Oberflächen, sowie die damit verbundene Schwingungsdynamik zu analysieren. Neben den experimentellen Arbeiten wurden u. a. first principles Rechnungen mittels der Dichtefunktionaltheorie im Rahmen der Lokalen-Dichte-Approximation durchgeführt. Damit konnten für die Oberflächen einerseits ihre geometrischen Eigenschaften, d.h die atomare Anordnung der Oberflächenatome, und andererseits auch ihre Dynamik, d.h. die Schwingungsfrequenzen und die Auslenkungsmuster der an der Rekonstruktion beteiligten Atome der Oberfläche und der oberflächennahen Schichten, im Rahmen der Frozen-Phonon-Näherung bestimmt werden. Die Kombination von experimenteller und theoretischer Vibrationsbestimmung von Oberflächen bietet also, neben den klassischen Oberflächen-Analysemethoden wie RHEED, LEED, XPS, Auger und SXRD, ein zusätzliches Werkzeug zur Charakterisierung von Oberflächen. Da die Frozen-Phonon-Näherung nicht elementarer Bestandteil des hier benutzten DFT-Programmcodes fhi96md ist, wurde diese Erweiterung im Rahmen dieser Arbeit durchgeführt. Die theoretische Berechnung von Schwingungsfrequenzen mit dynamischen Matrizen ist in einem Unterkapitel dargestellt. Die so berechneten Schwingungsfrequenzen für verschiedene Oberflächen-Rekonstruktionen konnten erfolgreich am Beispiel der reinen BeTe(100)-Oberfläche mit den experimentell mit der UHV-Ramanspektroskopie beobachteten Frequenzen verglichen werden. So gelang erstmalig die optische identifizierung von rekonstruktionsinduzierten Eigenschwingungen einer Oberfläche. Nach detaillierter Kenntnis der BeTe(100)-Oberfläche wurde die Ramanspektroskopie als Sonde benutzt, um die Entwicklung der BeTe-Oberfläche bei unterschiedlichen Behandlungen (Modifikation) zu verfolgen. Dabei dienten die früheren Ergebnisse als Referenzpunkte, um die modifizierten Spektren zu erklären. Zusätzlich wurde ein Konzept zur Passivierung der Te-reichen BeTe(100)-Oberfläche entwickelt, um diese Proben ohne einen technisch aufwendigen UHV-Transportbehälter über grössere Entfernungen transportieren zu können (z.B. zu Experimenten an einem Synchrotron). Mit der RAS wurden auch die Oberflächen von weiteren Gruppe II-Telluriden, nämlich die Te-reiche (2x1) CdTe(100)-Oberfläche, die Te-reiche (2x1) MnTe(100)-Oberfläche und die Hg-reiche c(2x2) HgTe(100)-Oberfläche untersucht. Schließlich wurde der Wachstumsstart von CdSe auf der BeTe(100)-Oberfläche im Bereich weniger Monolagen (1-5 ML) CdSe analysiert, wobei die hohe Empfindlichkeit der Ramanspektroskopie bereits den Nachweis einer Monolage CdSe erlaubte.