Resonant photoemission and X-ray absorption spectroscopies of lithiated magnetite thin film

Abstract

Resonant photoemission spectroscopy (RPES) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) were used to investigate the effect of lithiation on the electronic structure of Fe3O4 thin film relevant to the operation mechanism of nanoionic devices to enable magnetic property tuning. Comparison of the Fe 2p XAS spectrum for lithiated Fe3O4 (Li–Fe3O4) with that for pristine Fe3O4 clearly demonstrated that the number of Fe2+ ions at octahedral B sites is increased by lithiation. The valence band RPES spectra of Li–Fe3O4 further showed that lithiation increases the density of states near the Fermi level originating Fe2+ ions at octahedral B sites. These findings agree well with the observed decrease in the saturation magnetization in the magnetization–magnetic field (M–H) loop of Li–Fe3O4 thin film, indicating that minority spins (down spins) increase (i.e., total spins decrease) due to lithiation. The variation in the number of Fe2+ ions at B sites is suggested to be an underlying operating mechanism of a nanoionics-based magnetic property tuning device.