A reaction cell for ambient pressure soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy.

We present a new experimental setup for performing X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) in the soft X-ray range at ambient pressure. The ambient pressure XAS setup is fully compatible with the ultra high vacuum environment of a synchrotron radiation spectroscopy beamline end station by means of ultrathin Si3N4 membranes acting as windows for the X-ray beam and seal of the atmospheric sample environment. The XAS detection is performed in total electron yield (TEY) mode by probing the drain current from the sample with a picoammeter. The high signal/noise ratio achievable in the TEY mode, combined with a continuous scanning of the X-ray energies, makes it possible recording XAS spectra in a few seconds. The first results show the performance of this setup to record fast XAS spectra from sample surfaces exposed at atmospheric pressure, even in the case of highly insulating samples. The use of a permanent magnet inside the reaction cell enables the measurement of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism at ambient pressure.

Design and optimization of a modular setup for measurements of three-dimensional spin polarization with ultrafast pulsed sources.

ULTRASPIN is an apparatus devoted to the measurement of the spin polarization (SP) of electrons ejected from solid surfaces in a UHV environment. It is designed to exploit ultrafast light sources (free electron laser or laser high harmonic generation) and to perform (photo)electron spin analysis by an arrangement of Mott scattering polarimeters that measure the full SP vector. The system consists of two interconnected UHV vessels: one for surface science sample cleaning treatments, e-beam deposition of ultrathin films, and low energy electron diffraction/AES characterization. The sample environment in the polarimeter allows for cryogenic cooling and in-operando application of electric and magnetic fields. The photoelectrons are collected by an electrostatic accelerator and transport lens that form a periaxial beam that is subsequently directed by a Y-shaped electrostatic deflector to either one of the two orthogonal Mott polarimeters. The apparatus has been designed to operate in the extreme conditions of ultraintense single-X-ray pulses as originated by free electron lasers (up to 1 kHz), but it allows also for the single electron counting mode suitable when using statistical sources such as synchrotron radiation, cw-laser, or e-gun beams (up to 150 kcps).

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation time structure.

Synchrotron radiation time structure is becoming a common tool for studying dynamic properties of materials. The main limitation is often the wide time domain the user would like to access with pump-probe experiments. In order to perform photoelectron spectroscopy experiments over time scales from milliseconds to picoseconds it is mandatory to measure the time at which each measured photoelectron was created. For this reason the usual CCD camera-based two-dimensional detection of electron energy analyzers has been replaced by a new delay-line detector adapted to the time structure of the SOLEIL synchrotron radiation source. The new two-dimensional delay-line detector has a time resolution of 5 ns and was installed on a Scienta SES 2002 electron energy analyzer. The first application has been to characterize the time of flight of the photoemitted electrons as a function of their kinetic energy and the selected pass energy. By repeating the experiment as a function of the available pass energy and of the kinetic energy, a complete characterization of the analyzer behaviour in the time domain has been obtained. Even for kinetic energies as low as 10 eV at 2 eV pass energy, the time spread of the detected electrons is lower than 140 ns. These results and the time structure of the SOLEIL filling modes assure the possibility of performing pump-probe photoelectron spectroscopy experiments with the time resolution given by the SOLEIL pulse width, the best performance of the beamline and of the experimental station.

Advanced photoelectric effect experiment beamline at Elettra: A surface science laboratory coupled with Synchrotron Radiation.

We report the main characteristics of the advanced photoelectric effect experiments beamline, operational at Elettra storage ring, featuring a fully independent double branch scheme obtained by the use of chicane undulators and able to keep polarization control in both linear and circular mode. The paper describes the novel technical solutions adopted, namely, (a) the design of a quasiperiodic undulator resulting in optimized suppression of higher harmonics over a large photon energy range (10-100 eV), (b) the thermal stability of optics under high heat load via cryocoolers, and (c) the end station interconnected setup allowing full access to off-beam and on-beam facilities and, at the same time, the integration of users' specialized sample growth chambers or modules.

Three-dimensional tomography of the beryllium fermi surface: surface charge redistribution.

The discontinuity in the lattice periodic potential at surfaces often leads to the creation of new electronic surface states. We developed a photoemission based Fermi surface tomography whose surface sensitivity allowed us to quantify the charge redistribution on the Be(0001) surface. The volume enclosed by the bulklike Fermi surface is significantly reduced at the surface, consistent with the charge transfer to the two surface states as estimated from the area within their two-dimensional Fermi contours. This result represents the first quantification of the charge redistribution on a natural surface termination.