Abstract

Many properties of real materials can be modeled using ab initio methods within a single-particle picture. However, for an accurate theoretical treatment of excited states, it is necessary to describe electron-electron correlations including interactions with bosons: phonons, plasmons, or magnons. In this work, by comparing spin- and momentum-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements to many-body calculations carried out with a newly developed first-principles method, we show that a kink in the electronic band dispersion of a ferromagnetic material can occur at much deeper binding energies than expected (Eb = 1.5 eV). We demonstrate that the observed spectral signature reflects the formation of a many-body state that includes a photohole bound to a coherent superposition of renormalized spin-flip excitations. The existence of such a many-body state sheds new light on the physics of the electron-magnon interaction which is essential in fields such as spintronics and Fe-based superconductivity.

Highlights

  • Many properties of real materials can be modeled using ab initio methods within a singleparticle picture

  • Kinks observed by photoemission at binding energies of 100–300 meV were interpreted as originating from the electron-magnon interaction because the involved energy scale was regarded as too large to reflect electronphonon interaction[12,13,18]

  • We have experimentally mapped the electronic band structure of an Fe(001) thin film and identified a characteristic kink located 1.5 eV below the Fermi level, which can be reproduced by ab initio calculations based on a diagrammatic expansion of the self-energy, a quantity that describes the deviation of the quasiparticle spectrum from the ‘undressed’ electron picture

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Many properties of real materials can be modeled using ab initio methods within a singleparticle picture. We have experimentally mapped the electronic band structure of an Fe(001) thin film and identified a characteristic kink located 1.5 eV below the Fermi level, which can be reproduced by ab initio calculations based on a diagrammatic expansion of the self-energy, a quantity that describes the deviation of the quasiparticle spectrum from the ‘undressed’ electron picture.

Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.