Out-of-equilibrium charge redistribution in a copper-oxide based superconductor by time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Charge-transfer excitations are of paramount importance for understanding the electronic structure of copper-oxide based high-temperature superconductors. In this study, we investigate the response of a Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + δ crystal to the charge redistribution induced by an infrared ultrashort pulse. Element-selective time-resolved core-level photoelectron spectroscopy with a high energy resolution allows disentangling the dynamics of oxygen ions with different coordination and bonds thanks to their different chemical shifts. Our experiment shows that the O 1s component arising from the Cu-O planes is significantly perturbed by the infrared light pulse. Conversely, the apical oxygen, also coordinated with Sr ions in the Sr-O planes, remains unaffected. This result highlights the peculiar behavior of the electronic structure of the Cu-O planes. It also unlocks the way to study the out-of-equilibrium electronic structure of copper-oxide-based high-temperature superconductors by identifying the O 1s core-level emission originating from the oxygen ions in the Cu-O planes. This ability could be critical to gain information about the strongly-correlated electron ultrafast dynamical mechanisms in the Cu-O plane in the normal and superconducting phases.

Dynamical Nonlinear Inversion of the Surface Photovoltage at Si(100).

A surface photovoltage (SPV) is observed whenever a doped semiconductor with non-negligible band bending is illuminated by light and charge carriers are excited across the band gap. The sign of the SPV depends on the nature of the doping, the amplitude of the SPV increases with the fluence of the light illumination up to a saturation value, which is determined by the doping concentration. We have investigated Si(100) samples with well-characterized doping levels over a wide range of illumination fluences. Surprisingly, the sign of the SPV upon illumination with 532 nm photons reverses for some p-doping concentrations at high fluences. This is a new effect associated with a crossover between electronic excitations in the bulk and at the surface of the semiconductor.

Real-time observation of non-equilibrium phonon-electron energy and angular momentum flow in laser-heated nickel.

Identifying the microscopic nature of non-equilibrium energy transfer mechanisms among electronic, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom is central to understanding ultrafast phenomena such as manipulating magnetism on the femtosecond timescale. Here, we use time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to go beyond the often-used ensemble-averaged view of non-equilibrium dynamics in terms of quasiparticle temperature evolutions. We show for ferromagnetic Ni that the non-equilibrium electron and spin dynamics display pronounced variations with electron momentum, whereas the magnetic exchange interaction remains isotropic. This highlights the influence of lattice-mediated scattering processes and opens a pathway toward unraveling the still elusive microscopic mechanism of spin-lattice angular momentum transfer.

Observation of time-reversal symmetry breaking in the band structure of altermagnetic RuO2.

Altermagnets are an emerging elementary class of collinear magnets. Unlike ferromagnets, their distinct crystal symmetries inhibit magnetization while, unlike antiferromagnets, they promote strong spin polarization in the band structure. The corresponding unconventional mechanism of time-reversal symmetry breaking without magnetization in the electronic spectra has been regarded as a primary signature of altermagnetism but has not been experimentally visualized to date. We directly observe strong time-reversal symmetry breaking in the band structure of altermagnetic RuO2 by detecting magnetic circular dichroism in angle-resolved photoemission spectra. Our experimental results, supported by ab initio calculations, establish the microscopic electronic structure basis for a family of interesting phenomena and functionalities in fields ranging from topological matter to spintronics, which are based on the unconventional time-reversal symmetry breaking in altermagnets.

Photoinduced Dynamics at the Water/TiO_{2}(101) Interface.

We present a femtosecond time-resolved optical pump-soft x-ray probe photoemission study in which we follow the dynamics of charge transfer at the interface of water and anatase TiO_{2}(101). By combining our observation of transient oxygen O 1s core level peak shifts at submonolayer water coverages with Ehrenfest molecular dynamics simulations we find that ultrafast interfacial hole transfer from TiO_{2} to molecularly adsorbed water is completed within the 285 fs time resolution of the experiment. This is facilitated by the formation of a new hydrogen bond between an O_{2c} site at the surface and a physisorbed water molecule. The calculations fully corroborate our experimental observations and further suggest that this process is preceded by the efficient trapping of the hole at the surface of TiO_{2} by hydroxyl species (-OH), that form following the dissociative adsorption of water. At a water coverage exceeding a monolayer, interfacial charge transfer is suppressed. Our findings are directly applicable to a wide range of photocatalytic systems in which water plays a critical role.

Direct observation of charge separation in an organic light harvesting system by femtosecond time-resolved XPS.

The ultrafast dynamics of photon-to-charge conversion in an organic light-harvesting system is studied by femtosecond time-resolved X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (TR-XPS) at the free-electron laser FLASH. This novel experimental technique provides site-specific information about charge separation and enables the monitoring of free charge carrier generation dynamics on their natural timescale, here applied to the model donor-acceptor system CuPc:C60. A previously unobserved channel for exciton dissociation into mobile charge carriers is identified, providing the first direct, real-time characterization of the timescale and efficiency of charge generation from low-energy charge-transfer states in an organic heterojunction. The findings give strong support to the emerging realization that charge separation even from energetically disfavored excitonic states is contributing significantly, indicating new options for light harvesting in organic heterojunctions.

Photoinduced Charge Carrier Dynamics and Electron Injection Efficiencies in Au Nanoparticle-Sensitized TiO2 Determined with Picosecond Time-Resolved X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

Progress in the development of plasmon-enabled light-harvesting technologies requires a better understanding of their fundamental operating principles and current limitations. Here, we employ picosecond time-resolved X-ray photoemission spectroscopy to investigate photoinduced electron transfer in a plasmonic model system composed of 20 nm sized gold nanoparticles (NPs) attached to a nanoporous film of TiO2. The measurement provides direct, quantitative access to transient local charge distributions from the perspectives of the electron donor (AuNP) and the electron acceptor (TiO2). On average, approximately two electrons are injected per NP, corresponding to an electron injection yield per absorbed photon of 0.1%. Back electron transfer from the perspective of the electron donor is dominated by a fast recombination channel proceeding on a time scale of 60 ± 10 ps and a minor contribution that is completed after ∼1 ns. The findings provide a detailed picture of photoinduced charge carrier generation in this NP-semiconductor junction, with important implications for understanding achievable overall photon-to-charge conversion efficiencies.