Operando photoelectron emission spectroscopy and microscopy at Elettra soft X-ray beamlines: From model to real functional systems

Highlights: • Environmental cells for in-operando photoelectron spectroscopy and microscopy. • Advantages of using electron and photon transparent graphene membranes. • In-situ grafting of chemo-magnetic patterns and magnetic microscopy. - Abstract: Implementation of in-situ and operando experimental set-ups for bridging the pressure gap in characterization techniques based on monitoring of photoelectron emission has made significant achievements at several beamlines at Elettra synchrotron facility. These set-ups are now operational and have been successfully used to address unsolved issues exploring events occurring at solid–gas, solid–liquid and solid-solid interfaces of functional materials. The sections in the article communicate the research opportunities offered by the current set-ups at APE, BACH, ESCAmicroscopy and Nanospectroscopy beamlines and outline the next steps to overcome the present limits.