Accurate determination of the valence band edge in hard x-ray photoemission spectra using GW theory

Abstract

We introduce a new method for determining accurate values of the valence-band maximum in x-ray photoemission spectra. Specifically, we align the sharpest peak in the valence-band region of the experimental spectrum with the corresponding feature of a theoretical valence-band density of states curve from ab initio GW theory calculations. This method is particularly useful for soft and hard x-ray photoemission studies of materials with a mixture of valence-band characters, where strong matrix element effects can render standard methods for extracting the valence-band maximum unreliable. We apply our method to hydrogen-terminated boron-doped diamond, which is a promising substrate material for novel solar cell devices. By carrying out photoemission experiments with variable light polarizations, we verify the accuracy of our analysis and the general validity of the method.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Apr 27, 2016
Source ID
10.1063/1.4947594

Entities

People

  • Andrei Gloskovskii
  • Charles Fadley
  • Claus M Schneider
  • Giuseppina Conti
  • Gunnar Karl Pálsson
  • Johannes Lischner
  • Slavomir Nemsak
  • Steven G Louie
  • Wolfgang Drube

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • DESY
  • Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space
  • Formas
  • Imperial College London
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • National Science Foundation
  • United States Department of Energy
  • University of California

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Quantum Chemistry
  • Thin Film Deposition Science.