Ultrafast soft X-ray reflection-absorption spectroscopy as a probe for following surface charge carrier dynamics in catalytically-relevant functional materials.

The ability to observe charge localization in photocatalytic materials on the ultrafast time scale promises to reveal important correlations between excited state electronic structure and photochemical energy conversion. Of particular interest is the ability to determine hole localization in the hybridized valence band of transition metal oxide semiconductors. Using femtosecond extreme ultraviolet reflection absorption (XUV-RA) spectroscopy we directly observe the formation of photoexcited electrons and holes in FeO, CoO, and NiO occurring within the 100 fs instrument response. In each material, holes localize to the O 2p valence band states as probed at the O L-edge, while electrons localize to metal 3d conduction band states on this same time scale as probed at the metal M-edge. Chemical shifts at the O L-edge enable unambiguous comparison of metal-oxygen (M-O) bond covalency. Pump flux dependent measurements show that the exciton radius is on the order of a single M-O bond length, revealing a highly localized nature of exciton in each metal oxide studied.

Ultrafast extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for probing electronic structure and charge carrier dynamics in catalytic materials because of its elemental, oxidation, coordination, and electronic spin-state sensitivity. To extend the benefits of this technique to investigating charge carrier dynamics at surfaces, we have developed near grazing-angle XUV reflection–absorption (RA) spectroscopy. Because RA spectra probe both the real (i.e., reflection) and the imaginary (i.e., attenuation) parts of the refractive index, a general method is required to analyze RA spectra. Using semiempirical calculations, we demonstrate that XUV RA spectra of first row transition metal oxides retain the element and chemical state specificity of XUV absorption spectroscopy. We find that the imaginary part of the refractive index reports on the chemical state of the metal center, while the real part is additionally sensitive to the surface morphology of the material.

Small polaron formation is known to limit the photocatalytic charge transport efficiency of hematite via ultrafast carrier self-trapping. While small polaron formation is known to occur in bulk hematite, a complete description of surface polaron formation in this material is not fully understood. Theoretical predictions indicate that the kinetics and thermodynamics of surface polaron formation are different than those in bulk. However, to test these predictions requires the ability to experimentally differentiate polaron formation dynamics at the surface. Near grazing angle extreme ultraviolet reflection-absorption (XUV-RA) spectroscopy is surface sensitive and provides element and oxidation state specific information on a femtosecond time scale. Using XUV-RA, we provide a systematic comparison between surface and bulk polaron formation kinetics and energetics in photoexcited hematite. We find that the rate of surface polaron formation (250 ± 40 fs) is about three times slower than bulk polaron formation (90 ± 5 fs) in photoexcited hematite. Additionally, we show that the surface polaron formation rate can be systematically tuned by surface molecular functionalization. Within the framework of a Marcus type model, the kinetics and energetics of polaron formation are discussed. The slower polaron formation rate observed at the surface is found to result from a greater lattice reorganization relative to bulk hematite, while surface functionalization is shown to tune both the lattice reorganization as well as the polaron stabilization energies. The ability to tune the kinetics and energetics of polaron formation and hopping by molecular functionalization provides the opportunity to synthetically control electron transport in hematite.