In-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of copper-oxide thin films synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is the key momentum-resolved technique for direct probing of the electronic structure of a material. However, since it is highly surface-sensitive, it has been applied to a relatively small set of complex oxides that can be easily cleaved in ultra-high vacuum. Here we describe a new multi-module system at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in which an oxide molecular beam epitaxy (OMBE) is interconnected with an ARPES and a spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy (SI-STM) module. This new capability largely expands the range of complex-oxide materials and artificial heterostructures accessible to these two most powerful and complementary techniques for studies of electronic structure of materials. We also present the first experimental results obtained using this system - the ARPES studies of electronic band structure of a La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) thin film grown by OMBE.

Automated summary

ARPES is a key momentum-resolved technique for studying the electronic structure of materials. At Brookhaven National Laboratory, a new multi-module system is described that interconnects oxide molecular beam epitaxy (OMBE) with ARPES and spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy (SI-STM). This system greatly expands the range of complex oxides and artificial heterostructures that can be studied using these powerful techniques.