DEIMOS: a beamline dedicated to dichroism measurements in the 350-2500 eV energy range.

The DEIMOS (Dichroism Experimental Installation for Magneto-Optical Spectroscopy) beamline was part of the second phase of the beamline development at French Synchrotron SOLEIL (Source Optimisée de Lumière à Energie Intermédiaire du LURE) and opened to users in March 2011. It delivers polarized soft x-rays to perform x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, and x-ray linear dichroism in the energy range 350-2500 eV. The beamline has been optimized for stability and reproducibility in terms of photon flux and photon energy. The main end-station consists in a cryo-magnet with 2 split coils providing a 7 T magnetic field along the beam or 2 T perpendicular to the beam with a controllable temperature on the sample from 370 K down to 1.5 K.

Direct observation of a highly spin-polarized organic spinterface at room temperature.

Organic semiconductors constitute promising candidates toward large-scale electronic circuits that are entirely spintronics-driven. Toward this goal, tunneling magnetoresistance values above 300% at low temperature suggested the presence of highly spin-polarized device interfaces. However, such spinterfaces have not been observed directly, let alone at room temperature. Thanks to experiments and theory on the model spinterface between phthalocyanine molecules and a Co single crystal surface, we clearly evidence a highly efficient spinterface. Spin-polarised direct and inverse photoemission experiments reveal a high degree of spin polarisation at room temperature at this interface. We measured a magnetic moment on the molecule's nitrogen π orbitals, which substantiates an ab-initio theoretical description of highly spin-polarised charge conduction across the interface due to differing spinterface formation mechanisms in each spin channel. We propose, through this example, a recipe to engineer simple organic-inorganic interfaces with remarkable spintronic properties that can endure well above room temperature.

Impact on interface spin polarization of molecular bonding to metallic surfaces.

We have studied the repercussion of the molecular adsorption mechanism on the electronic properties of the interface between model nonmagnetic or magnetic metallic surfaces and metallo-organic phthalocyanines molecules (Pcs). Our intertwined x-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments and computational studies reveal that manganese Pc (MnPc) is physisorbed onto a Cu(001) surface and retains the electronic properties of a free molecule. On the other hand, MnPc is chemisorbed onto Co(001), leading to a dominant direct exchange interaction between the Mn molecular site and the Co substrate. By promoting an interfacial spin-polarized conduction state on the molecule, these interactions reveal an important lever to tailor the spintronic properties of hybrid organic-metallic interfaces.

Temperature dependence of the pre-edge structure in the Ti K-edge x-ray absorption spectrum of rutile.

The temperature dependence of the pre-edge features in x-ray absorption spectroscopy is reviewed. Then, the temperature dependence of the pre-edge structure at the K-edge of titanium in rutile TiO(2) is measured at low and room temperature. The first two peaks grow with temperature. The fact that these two peaks also correspond to electric quadrupole transitions is explained by a recently proposed theory.

The irradiation of ammonia ice studied by near edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy.

A vapor-deposited NH(3) ice film irradiated at 20 K with 150 eV photons has been studied with near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy at the nitrogen K-edge. Irradiation leads to the formation of high amounts (12%) of molecular nitrogen N(2), whose concentration as a function of the absorbed energy has been quantified to 0.13 molecule/eV. The stability of N(2) in solid NH(3) has been also studied, showing that N(2) continuously desorbs between 20 and 95 K from the irradiated ammonia ice film. Weak concentrations (<1%) of other photoproducts are also detected. Our NEXAFS simulations show that these features own to NH(2), N(2)H(2), and N(3)(-).

Probing the transition in bulk Ce under pressure: a direct investigation by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering.

We report on the most complete investigation to date of the -electron properties at the transition in elemental Ce by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The Ce 2p3d-RIXS spectra were measured directly in the bulk material as a function of pressure through the transition. The spectra were simulated within the Anderson impurity model. The occupation number n(f) and f double occupancy were derived from the calculations in both gamma and alpha phases in the ground state. We find that the electronic structure changes result mainly from band formation of 4f electrons which concurs with reduced electron correlation and increased Kondo screening at high pressure.

f-State occupancy at the gamma-alpha phase transition of Ce-Th and Ce-Sc alloys.

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra were measured for a series of Ce solid solutions (Ce-Th and Ce-Sc) across the gamma-alpha phase transition. They reveal a well-defined feature associated with the 4f2 configuration when the incident energy is tuned to the Ce L3 preedge region. This component is normally hidden in x-ray absorption spectra because of lifetime broadening. The f1/f2 ratio estimated by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering presents a sharp drop across the gamma-alpha transition and hysteresis as a function of temperature that closely resemble the magnetization loop. These measurements confirm recent dynamical mean-field theory calculations that unexpectedly predict significant double occupancy of f orbitals in the ground state.