Laboratory hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that laboratory hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HXPS) provides high bulk sensitivity for analyzing the electronic structure of La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_3$, revealing insights into core-level shifts across the composition range.

Contribution

The paper introduces the application of laboratory HXPS with monochromatic Cr Kα X-ray source for bulk electronic structure analysis of La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_3$, showing its advantages over conventional XPS and synchrotron methods.

Findings

No high binding-energy shoulder in O 1s HXPS spectra.

Enhanced low binding-energy shoulder in Mn 2p3/2 HXPS spectra.

HXPS effectively tracks Mn 2p3/2 shifts across all x values.

Abstract

A laboratory hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HXPS) system equipped with a monochromatic Cr K$\alpha$ ($h\nu = 5414.7$ eV) X-ray source was applied to an investigation of the core-level electronic structure of La$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$MnO$_3$. No appreciable high binding-energy shoulder in the O $1s$ HXPS spectra were observed while an enhanced low binding-energy shoulder structure in the Mn $2p_{3/2}$ HXPS spectra were observed, both of which are manifestation of high bulk sensitivity. Such high bulk sensitivity enabled us to track the Mn $2p_{3/2}$ shoulder structure in the full range of $x$, giving us a new insight into the binding-energy shift of the Mn $2p_{3/2}$ core level. Comparisons with the results using the conventional laboratory XPS ($h\nu = 1486.6$ eV) as well as those using a synchrotron radiation source ($h\nu = 7939.9$ eV) demonstrate that HXPS is a powerful and convenient tool to analyze the bulk electronic structure of a host of different compounds.