Abstract
Control of structural coupling at complex-oxide interfaces is a powerful platform for creating ultrathin layers with electronic and magnetic properties unattainable in the bulk. However, with the capability to design and control the electronic structure of such buried layers and interfaces at a unit-cell level, a new challenge emerges to be able to probe these engineered emergent phenomena with depth-dependent atomic resolution as well as element- and orbital selectivity. Here, we utilize a combination of core-level and valence-band soft x-ray standing-wave photoemission spectroscopy, in conjunction with scanning transmission electron microscopy, to probe the depth-dependent and single-unit-cell resolved electronic structure of an isovalent manganite superlattice [Eu0.7Sr0.3MnO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3]×15 wherein the electronic-structural properties are intentionally modulated with depth via engineered oxygen octahedra rotations/tilts and A-site displacements. Our unit-cell resolved measurements reveal significant transformations in the local chemical and electronic valence-band states, which are consistent with the layer-resolved first-principles theoretical calculations, thus opening the door for future depth-resolved studies of a wide variety of heteroengineered material systems.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 125119 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 9 2019 |
Funding
A.X.G., R.U.C., W.Y., and A.A. acknowledge support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division under Award No. DE-SC0019297. A.X.G. also acknowledges support from the U.S. Army Research Office, under Grant No. W911NF-15-1-0181, during the initial stages of this project. E.J.M. and S.J.M. acknowledge support from the U.S. Army Research Office, under Grant No. W911NF-15-1-0133. M.G. and J.M.R. were supported by the U.S. DOE under Grant No. DE-SC0012375. J.C. and R.M.S.d-R. acknowledge additional support from the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) through the U.S. Department of Energy. M.-A.H. was supported by the Swiss Excellence Scholarship grant ESKAS-No. 2015.0257. DFT calculations were performed using the CARBON Cluster at Argonne National Laboratory. Use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials, an Office of Science user facility, was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Work at the Molecular Foundry user facilities was supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics