Welcome to XPEEM and LEEM @ ElettraThe study of nanostructured materials requires analytical methods that combine X-ray spectroscopy with electron microscopy. The Nanospectroscopy beamline at Elettra operates a state-of-the-art spectroscopic photoemission and low energy electron microscope (SPELEEM). This powerful instrument offers a wide range of complementary methods providing structural, chemical and magnetic sensitivity. The lateral resolution of the microscope currently approaches few tens nm. The microscope is served by a high photon flux beamline, which can deliver elliptically polarized photons in the range 50 eV to 1000 eV. Research applications are targeted to Surface and Materials Sciences, addressing issues related to chemical and magnetic characterization of surfaces, interfaces, thin films, and nanostructures. |
Research Highlights | Publications | Applications | Agenda | Calendar | End-station![]() Unveiling the formation of epitaxial graphene on cobalt
PEEM and LEEM enabled imaging the structural transformation that graphene on cobalt undergoes at temperatures above 500°C, from a rotationally-incoherent, defective layer to an epitaxial one.The structural transformation takes place via the growth and propagation of mesoscopic carbidic islands and involves the dissolution and recondensation of carbon. ![]() In-Gap States and Band-Like Transport in Memristors
Laterally-resolved soft X-ray resonant photoelectron spectromicroscopy enabled direct access to the electronic structure of a conductive filament in an epitaxial memristive device. Oxygen vacancies in SrTiO3–x were found to induce the formation of in-gap states that impact the shape of the conduction band. ![]() Writing the magnetic state with carbon monoxide
We devised a new method to graft chemo-magnetic patterns by depositing atomic carbon through electron stimulated molecular dissociation. To do this, an ultra-thin cobalt film is exposed it to CO while irradiating the surface with an intense, micro-focused low energy electron beam. ![]() Subfilamentary Networks in Memristive Devices
In-operando XAS-PEEM gives access to the microscopic origin of resitance variability in memristior devices based on transition metal oxides. Upon switching, the spatial rearrangement of oxygen vacancies results in variations of their local concentration and shape of the conductive filament bridging the metal electrodes. ![]() Graphene and h-BN by a Single Molecular Precursor
The fabrication of graphene h-BN layers is rather challenging. We report here a novel bottom-up approach to obtain a continuous almost free-standing hexagonal single layer with perfectly merging graphene and hexagonal boron-nitride domains using only one molecular precursor. ![]() Stable magnetic skyrmions at room temperature
Magnetic skyrmions are chiral spin structures with a whirling configuration. By employing x-ray magnetic circular dichroism photoemission electron microscopy, we imaged for the first time the chiral Néel internal structure of stable skyrmions in sputtered ultrathin Pt/Co/MgO nanostructures at room temperature and zero external magnetic field. ![]() Fragmentation of magnetism in dipolar spin ice
Few cases exist where a system remains disordered as a gas or a liquid, even at the lowest temperatures accessible experimentally. Systems that simultaneously exhibit different order states are even rarer. Such a phase, “liquid” and “solid” at the same time, has been recently observed in a magnetic metamaterial, artificial spin ice. ![]() Island Ripening in a catalytic reaction
We have investigated a reaction-controlled ripening process of ultrathin vanadium oxide on Rh(111) during catalytic methanol oxidation. Under reaction conditions, neighboring vanadium oxide islands move towards each other and coalesce. This quasi-macroscopic ripening is explained by a polymerization-depolymerization mechanism which is sensitive to gradients in the adsorbate coverages. ![]() Fabrication of 2D heterojunction in graphene
Irradiation with very-low energy nitrogen ions is used to locally induce substitutional doping in graphene. Irradiated and non-irradiated areas are separated by a sharp boundary, stable up to 750 °C. Our experiments pave the way to the lithographic control of the electronic properties of graphene and provide a proof-of-principle for the fabrication of graphene-based heterojunctions. ![]() Nanobubbles at extreme pressure under graphene
Graphene is able to trap mesoscopic volumes of liquid or gas, resulting in the formation of nanobubbles. Here we have investigated the morphology and spatial distribution of Ar under micron-sized graphene flakes supported on Ir(100), specifically addressing the dynamics of nanobubbles formation, their stability and the pressure which Ar is subject to. G. Zamborlini et al., Nano Lett. 15(9), 6162–6169 (2015).
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News | archive
Beamline developmentsMonochromator upgrade
Detector Gating for Time Resolved Measurements
A high pressure chamber for the SPELEEMNanoESCA beamline
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User AreaQuick LinksProposal SubmissionWe invite users to discuss their proposals with the beamline contacts well in advance before the submission deadline. This is crucial for a careful assessment of the experiment feasibility and may lead to improvements in the proposed experimental plan. In a restricted number of cases, when doubts arise about the suitability of your samples or the planned measurements are too close to the microscope resolution limit, it may be possible for you to arrange a test. For more info, please visit the user info section. Call for proposalsThe deadline for proposal submission for beamtime allocation during the second semester of the current year is March 15th, 2020. Please indicate Nanospectroscopy as first beamline if your experiment requires using the SPELEEM microscope. Sample coolingThe SPELEEM sample cooling stage has been reparied and upgraded. It is currently under commissioning. Access through CERIC
Nanospectroscopy is part of the CERIC-ERIC consortium. CERIC-ERIC offers access to more than 40 different and complementary state of the art techniques, distributed in 8 countries, with the submission of single or multi-technique proposals through a single entry point. |