High energy photoelectron spectroscopy in basic and applied science: Bulk and interface electronic structure

Highlights: •We demonstrate how hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy can be used to investigate interface properties of multilayers. •By combining HAXPES and statistical methods we are able to provide quantitative analysis of the interface diffusion process. •We show how photoionization cross sections can be used to map partial density of states contributions to valence states. •We use HAXPES to provide insight into the valence electronic structure of e.g. multiferroics and dye-sensitized solar cells. -- Abstract: With the access of new high-performance electron spectrometers capable of analyzing electron energies up to the order of 10 keV, the interest for photoelectron spectroscopy has grown and many new applications of the technique in areas where electron spectroscopies were considered to have limited use have been demonstrated over the last few decades. The technique, often denoted hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HX-PES or HAXPES), to distinguish the experiment from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy performed at lower energies, has resulted in an increasing interest in photoelectron spectroscopy in many areas. The much increased mean free path at higher kinetic energies, in combination with the elemental selectivity of the core level spectroscopies in general has led to this fact. It is thus now possible to investigate the electronic structure of materials with a substantially enhanced bulk sensitivity. In this review we provide examples from our own research using HAXPES which to date has been performed mainly at the HIKE facility at the KMC-1 beamline at HZB, Berlin. The review exemplifies the new opportunities using HAXPES to address both bulk and interface electronic properties in systems relevant for applications in magnetic storage, energy related research, but also in purely curiosity driven problems