A high-resolution synchrotron-radiation angle-resolved photoemission spectrometer with in situ oxide thin film growth capability

Abstract

We have constructed a high-resolution synchrotron-radiation angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) spectrometer combined with a combinatorial laser molecular-beam epitaxy (laser MBE) thin film growth system in order to investigate the electronic structure of transition metal oxide thin films. An ARPES spectrometer GAMMADATA SCIENTA SES-100 was selected for the high-throughput and high-energy and angular-resolution ARPES measurements. A total energy resolution of 6.3 meV and a momentum (an angular) resolution of 0.02 Å−1 (0.2°) were obtained at a photon energy of 40 eV. The system is installed at the high-resolution vacuum-ultraviolet beamline BL-1C or the soft-x-ray undulator beamline BL-2C at the Photon Factory as an end-station. Another distinctive feature of this system is the direct connection from the spectrometer to a laser MBE chamber. Thin film samples can be transferred quickly into the photoemission chamber without breaking ultrahigh vacuum. Laser MBE is one of the best methods to grow thin films of many different transition metal oxides and to achieve well-ordered surfaces, which are indispensable for the ARPES measurements. The capabilities of the system and the importance of the in situ sample transfer between ARPES and laser MBE are demonstrated by studying the band structure of La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 thin films epitaxially grown on SrTiO3 substrates by laser MBE.