| AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Novel Trends in Synchrotron and FEL-Based Analysis Focus Topic | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session SA-TuM |
| Session: | Characterization of Nanostructured and LD Materials Using Synchrotron-Based Methods |
| Presenter: | Claus Schneider, Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Germany |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Complex material systems play a pivotal role in many areas of modern technology, such as information storage and processing or energy conversion and storage. In particular, modern information technology exploits the full potential of very different material systems for the meticulous control of alternative state variables. These state variables are used to represent the individual information bits and may be electron charges in semiconductor nanoelectronics, electron spins in the case spintronics, or local redox configurations in resistive switching elements. Due to this broad range, the materials encompass intermetallic compounds, oxides or chalcogenides, elementary and compound semiconductors or even molecular components. In addition, the functional elements, for example, individual memory cells or transistor structures often involve nanometer dimensions and operate on nanosecond timescales or even below. This imposes considerable challenges on the characterization of electronic, chemical and magnetic states in the steady state or during operation.
Immersion lens microscopy with synchrotron radiation has matured into a versatile and powerful tool to investigate a broad range of issues in condensed matter physics and materials science. In its energy-filtered version photoemission microscopy combines high-resolution imaging with spectroscopic capabilities in a unique fashion, enabling access to valence and core electronic states. The excitation with photons ranging from the soft to the hard x-ray regime ensures element selectivity and variable information depth. Choosing the polarization state of the synchrotron radiation enables one to distinguish different states of magnetic order, such as ferro- and antiferromagnets. The intrinsic time structure of the synchrotron radiation permits the study of processes with picosecond time-resolution via pump-probe approaches.
This contribution will review the present status of x-ray photoemission spectromicroscopy with emphasis on applications in information technology. In particular, we will cover model systems in spintronics and in resistive switching [1,2]. The results address both static properties and dynamic processes. We will also discuss new developments, such as photoemission microscopy with hard x-rays and the implementation of imaging spin polarimetry.