Skip to main content

Photoemission Electron Microscopy of Small Polaron Formation on NaCl Islands on Cu (111)


EMSL Project ID
30430

Abstract

Our recent paper describes the time-dependence of small polaron formation at the interface of a metal insulator system. This result is unique in that the observed interfacial polaron formation has no analog in bulk NaCl. This study uses the 2PPE technique but does not spatially characterize the NaCl morphology on a microscopic scale. By incorporating PEEM detection it will be possible to measure the fast electronic dynamics as a function of NaCl island dimension and morphology. A proof-of-principle demonstration of femtosecond TR-PEEM has been reported. This technique can reveal spatially resolved ultrafast dynamics and is particularly relevant to understanding critical issues such as the structure-function relationship of charge localization and its effects on the excited electronic state dynamics in nanoscale materials. Although the EMSL PEEM facility is not equipped with electron energy analysis we will use a separate photoelectron spectrometer in the same laboratory for ex-situ electron energy analysis on identical samples as those probed in the TR-PEEM experiments. In this way we will interrogate the formation of interfacial polarons, that have no bulk analog, on nanoscale NaCl islands on Cu (111) and resolve the ultrafast electronic dynamics as a function of island structure.

Project Details

Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2008-10-01
End Date
2009-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Xiaoyang Zhu
Institution
University of Minnesota

Team Members

Kenneth Beck
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Wayne Hess
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Alan Joly
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory