ANGLE-SCANNED PHOTOEMISSION ON YbH_x: RELEVANCE FOR SWITCHABLE MIRRORS

Abstract

Yttrium, lantanum and rare earth elements can be loaded with hydrogen inducing a metal-insulator transition and giving rise to optical switching from reflecting to transparent. We present angle-scanned photoemission experiments characterizing thin YbHx films grown on W(110) at room temperature. Hydrogen loading is performed in an ultrahigh-vacuum-compatible high pressure (1 bar) reaction cell. Via full-hemispherical X-ray photoelectron diffraction and low energy electron diffraction, it is demonstrated that these films grow well-ordered and single-crystalline. Ultraviolet photoemission reveals a gap for the dihydride phase confirming a transition from reflecting to transparent as seen by visual inspection. Ion implantation through additional H+ sputtering allows one to increase the hydrogen content to x ≈ 2.4.

Fingerprinting substitution sites in Pb,Dy-Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O8+δusing X-ray Photoelectron Diffraction

“…Its sensitivity to local order and chemical species makes XPD a powerful technique for surface structural investigations. XPD can be used to characterize near surface structure [16], substitution sites [11], film growth [17][18][19] and even phase transitions [20].…”