Electron energy-loss spectroscopy applied to solids

Several illustrating examples of recent electron energy-loss investigations of the electronic structure of solids are reviewed. In particular, studies on rare-gas bubbles in metals, on conducting polymers, and onL _2,3 edges of 3d transition metals are reported. Moreover, the electron energy-loss spectrometer, which was used for these investigations, is described briefly.     

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy from polar ZnO surfaces

Reflection electron energy-loss spectra (ELS) in the 2–30-eV range were obtained from ZnO ($000\overline{1}$)O and (0001)Zn faces. Measurements were performed on atomically clean surfaces and on surfaces subjected to different treatments, including exposures to atomic hydrogen and molecular oxygen. The spectra were compared with ELS, UPS, XPS and UV reflection results obtained by other investigators. An identification of the observed electronic transitions is attempted.     

Investigation of reactions from the highest excited states of molecules by fluorescent spectroscopy methods

The effect of the highest excited states on the yield of photoproducts that are usually formed upon excitation of the first singlet electronic state of polyatomic molecules is discussed. It is shown that the excitation of molecular objects through the highest singlet states can, in some cases, increase the yield of reaction products. This allows one to estimate the probabilities of reactions from the corresponding states. The consideration concerns a wide range of primary photoreactions, including the electronic density redistribution (the intramolecular electron transfer) in the excited state, the protolytic reactions, the intramolecular proton transfer (the phototautomerization), the hydrogen bond formation, and the formation of excimers and exciplexes. The relations obtained are used to analyze the experimental fluorescence spectra of 3-hydroxyflavone solutions, excited by electromagnetic radiation with different wavelengths in the region of the S ₁, S ₂, and S ₃ absorption bands. The analysis fulfilled shows that the highest singlet states play an important role in the formation of tautomers in 3-hydroxyflavone due to the intramolecular proton transfer.     

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of UHV-cleaved NiO (100) surfaces

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of ～ 200 eV electrons has been applied to the study of the electronic states of clean NiO (100) surfaces. Initial attempt has been made on the identification of observed peaks, and they are attributed to the one-electronic transitions (O^2-2p → Ni²⁺3d, 4s and 4p; Ni²⁺3d → 4p, 3p → 3d and 4s), and the collective excitations (bulk plasmons of O^2-2p, Ni²⁺3d electrons, and coupled 2p and 3d electrons).     

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of alkali-metal-covered Ge(111) surfaces

Electron energy-loss spectra of a Ge(111) surface covered with Na, K or Cs in the submonolayer range have been measured. The presence of alkali metal (a.m.) causes the empty dangling-bond surface states to vanish and results in the creation of new interface states. The filling of the latter is a decreasing function of the ionicity of the a.m.—Ge bond.It was found that the energy shift of transitions involving a.m. s resonance as the final state is a linear function of a.m. coverage.     

Raman spectroscopy of infrared multiple-photon excited molecules

The method of spectroscopy of spontaneous Raman scattering (RS) with time resolution has been applied for the first time to diagnose the process of multiphoton ir molecular excitation (MPE). Some aspects of RS diagnostics of MPE processes are being analyzed. It has been shown experimentally on SF₆ and CF₃I molecules that it is possible to study such important characteristics of excitation process as the fraction of molecules involved in the process of excitation, vibrational energy distribution of molecules, stochastization of inner molecular energy.     

Electron spectroscopy using excited atoms and photons: II. Penning ionization of diatomic molecules

A high resolution electrostatic electron analyser has been used to study Penning ionization electron spectra of H₂, HD, D₂, N₂, CO, NO and O₂ using helium metastable atoms (2¹S, 2³S). Results for H₂, N₂ and CO are in good agreement with other work. New data are presented for HD, D₂, NO and O₂. The Penning electron spectra are also compared to the 584 Å photoelectron spectra obtained in the same apparatus. The relative vibrational intensifies for the given electronic bands indicate that in most cases Franck—Condon factors for Penning ionization and photoionization are very similar. However for the O₂⁺(X²Π_g) band, the (2³S) Penning electron and photoelectron spectra show significant differences in the Franck—Condon envelopes This perturbation of the envelope for the Penning ionization may be explained by a competing autoionization process. The relative electronic transition probabilities are in many cases found to be different for Penning ionization and photoionization.     

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of anomalous plutonium behavior in nuclear waste materials

Plutonium-enriched layer has been observed in corroded spent uranium oxide fuel (CSNF). These Pu-enriched regions were examined with analytical transmission electron microscopy combined with electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). The enriched region also contained U, Am, Ru, Zr, but only minor enrichment of rare earth elements. The Pu, possibly as Pu(V) according to EELS measurements, was dispersed within re-precipitated uranium oxide (identified as U3O8) nano-crystals between U(VI) secondary phases and the CSNF surface. The U, Pu, and Am enrichment was observed in the corrosion products with tests on different nuclear fuels. This may have implications for the long-term behavior of CSNF under storage in a geologic waste repository. Furthermore, there may be an increased potential for the generation of Pu-bearing colloids from this type of weathered CSNF.     

Submillimeter-wave spectroscopy of HCO in the excited vibrational states

The pure rotational transitions of HCO⁺ in excited vibrational states located below 5000 cm⁻¹ over the ground state have been investigated with a high-sensitivity frequency/magnetic field double modulation submillimeter-wave spectrometer in the frequency range of 280-810 GHz. The ions were generated in an extended negative glow discharge through a gas mixture of a few millitorrs of H₂ and CO and 12 mTorr of Ar buffer gas. Throughout the experiments, the cell was maintained at liquid nitrogen temperature. In the present study, we have determined accurate molecular constants for the excited vibrational states. Our analysis suggests that there may be a higher order Coriolis interaction between the (0 3 1) and (1 2 0) states. In previous investigations, the Stark effect caused by the electric field present in the discharge plasma was cited as a reason for non-observations of low-J lines in the (02²0) and for the systematic shifts observed for low-J lines in the (01¹0), (02²0), (03¹0), and (04²0) states of HCO⁺ as well as DCO⁺. In the present investigation, some low-J lines in the (02²0) and (04²0) states have been observed in emission. Furthermore, J = 8-7, J = 9-8 lines in (03^1e1) were detected in emission. This finding indicates that missing low-J lines for the Δ sublevel obtained in the past is not due to the Stark effect but due to small population differences in those levels.     

Extension of the Local Approach to excited states of molecules

The Local Approach for the calculation of electronic correlation energies in molecules is generalized to excited states. Within the Local Approach correlated states are obtained by applying a local projection operator on the Hartree-Fock ground state or simple reference states, which are used as zeroth order approximations for the excited states, respectively. In the case of excited states one has in addition to require the correlated states to be orthogonal on the states lower in energy. This is done by using Schmidt's orthogonalization. The method is applied to a simple model of the H₆-ring for which an exact solution is available. The results obtained are of comparable quality as for the ground state.     

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy studies on C60 and C70 fullerite

The electronic structure of the crystalline fullerites C₆₀ and C₇₀ has been investigated by high-energy electron energy-loss spectroscopy in transmission. From valence band excitations and from core-level excitations of the C 1s level information on occupied and unoccupied and bands has been obtained.     

Dynamic fluorescence quenching and the highest excited states of molecules

The dynamic fluorescence quenching in organic molecules, or quenching of the second kind according to Vavilov’s classification, is an efficient method of investigating excited states in solutions and is widely used in various fields. The effect of quenching on the intensity of the fluorescence from the first and higher singlet states of organic molecules is studied. The results may serve as a basis for determining the nature of the short-wavelength luminescence and can be used to distinguish the S _n fluorescence from the comparably intense luminescence of impurities, which is a very important problem when investigating such emissions. A method for obtaining dynamic quenching by specially chosen quenchers is proposed. The method is based on an experimentally found strong increase in the constants of bimolecular collisions of luminophore and quencher molecules when the luminophore is excited through the highest singlet states.     

Optoacoustic laser spectroscopy of excited vibrational molecular states

A new detection method for absorption from excited vibrational states is suggested, based on optoacoustic detection of weak absorption in a heated gas. Using this method CO₂ laser radiation (λ=9.6 μm) absorption was investigated from excited vibrational states of CO₂, BCl₃, and BF₃ molecules.     

Submillimeter-wave spectroscopy of HCN in excited vibrational states

Measurements of the rotational spectrum of HCN in excited vibrational states have been extended to higher-J values. The transitions reach J=8←7 around 710 GHz for most vibrational states studied in this investigation and J=22←21 near 2 THz for the (020) and (030) vibrational states. Using a pure sample of gaseous HCN at 350 K, selected states up to one quantum in the C–H stretching vibration at 3311.5 cm⁻¹ have been investigated. Even transitions having two quanta in the C–H stretch could be studied employing a glow discharge in a gas mixture of CH₄ and N₂. Molecular constants in 13 vibrational states have been obtained, several of which have been studied for the first time by rotational spectroscopy. The vibrational temperature in the discharge system is found to be about 1500 K for the stretching vibrational modes and about 600 K for the bending states.     

Microwave spectroscopy of furfural in vibrationally excited states

The results of microwave spectrum investigation of the excited vibrational states of furfural in the frequency range between 49 and 149 GHz are reported. In total 15 excited vibrational states (9 for trans-furfural and 6 for cis-furfural) were assigned and analyzed. Six of the 15 investigated states were assigned for the first time. Accurate values of rigid rotor and quartic centrifugal distortion constants of asymmetric top Hamiltonian have been determined for 13 excited states. Also for some states several sextic and octic level constants were needed in order to fit the data within experimental accuracy. The v_t = 3 and v_s = 1, v_a = 1 states of trans-furfural were found to be strongly perturbed and only rotational transitions with low K_a values can be reliably identified in this study.     

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy of V2O5 nanofibers synthesized by electro-spinning

The dielectric properties of V₂O₅ nanofibers, synthesized by the electrospinning method, are studied by analyzing the low-loss region of the electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a transmission electron microscope. A comparison of experimental EELS spectra and ab initio density-functional theory calculations (WIEN2k code) within the Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) is presented, having found an excellent agreement between them. Although the experimental EELS has been acquired for the nanoparticles composing the fibers, and numerical calculations were carried out for bulk material, agreement between experimental and calculated results shows that no difference exists between the electronic structure in calculated bulk material and the nanoparticles. Furthermore, our results from EELS confirm that we accomplished the expected crystalline phase. The origins of interband transitions are identified in the electronic band structure by calculating the partial imaginary part of the dielectric function and the partial density of states.