Estimating the Orientation of 4f Magnetic Moments by Classical Photoemission

• Published in: The journal of physical chemistry letters Vol. 13; no. 33; pp. 7861 - 7869
• Main Authors: Usachov, Dmitry Yu, Glazkova, Daria, Tarasov, Artem V., Schulz, Susanne, Poelchen, Georg, Bokai, Kirill A., Vilkov, Oleg Yu, Dudin, Pavel, Kummer, Kurt, Kliemt, Kristin, Krellner, Cornelius, Vyalikh, Denis V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 25.08.2022
• Subjects: Physical Insights into Quantum Phenomena and Function
• ISSN: 1948-7185; 1948-7185
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c02203

To use efficiently the magnetic functionalities emerging at the surfaces or interfaces of novel lanthanides-based materials, there is a need for complementary methods to probe the atomic-layer resolved magnetic properties. Here, we show that 4f photoelectron spectroscopy is highly sensitive to the collective orientation of 4f magnetic moments and, thus, a powerful tool for characterizing the related properties. To demonstrate this, we present the results of systematic study of a family of layered crystalline 4f-materials, which are crystallized in the body-centered tetragonal ThCr2Si2 structure. Analysis of 4f spectra indicates that the 4f moments at the surface experience a strong reorientation with respect to the bulk, caused by changes of the crystal-electric field. The presented database of the computed 4f spectra for all trivalent rare-earth ions in their different M J states will facilitate the estimation of the orientation of the 4f magnetic moments in the layered 4f-systems for efficient control of their magnetic properties.