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Diluted ferromagnetic semiconductors combining ferromagnetic and semiconducting properties in one material provide numerous new functionalities, attractive for basic studies and potentially useful for novel device applications. The tailoring of the electronic structure in analogy to conventional semiconductors has yet to be explored. Here, we demonstrate the conservation of broken inversion symmetry and band structure tailoring for high-quality molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown (In,Ga,Mn)As films with 3% In plus 2.5% or 5.6% Mn using hard-x-ray photoelectron diffraction (hXPD) and momentum microscopy. Photon energies of 3-5 keV ensure that the results are not corrupted by surface effects, which are known to be strong in semiconductors. The missing inversion center of the GaAs host lattice leads to fingerprint-like hXPD signatures of As and Ga sites. For both concentrations, Mn predominantly occupies Ga substitutional sites. Momentum microscopy reveals a shift of the chemical potential with increasing Mn doping and a highly dispersing band, crossing the Fermi level for high Mn concentration. The Mn doping induces a pronounced modification of the spin-orbit split-off band.

The bulk sensitivity of hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with circularly polarized radiation of the P09 beamline at PETRA III enables the investigation of the magnetic properties of capped films. We have determined the temperature dependence of the magnetic circular dichroism in the Fe 2p and in the Gd 3d states in amorphous GdFe films. The magnetic dichroism reflects the stronger temperature dependence of Gd moments compared to Fe moments in agreement with mean-field models. We resolved the exchange split Gd 3d(5/2) substates and found a significant temperature dependence of the splitting which is attributed to a temperature dependent part of the exchange energy caused by Stoner-like itinerant states. A comparison of experimental and simulated x-ray photoemission spectra with corresponding data for x-ray absorption spectroscopy exciting the identical core holes clearly demonstrates that the core hole exchange interaction is the origin of the observed multiplet features for Gd.

Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) in near-threshold photoemission is measured for a perpendicularly magnetized Cs/Co/Pt(111) film with work function adjusted by Cs adsorption. For one-photon photoemission (1PPE) the MCD asymmetry is recorded at a fixed photon energy of h nu = 3.06 eV and varying work function Phi. The asymmetry shows a nonmonotonous behavior in dependence of the excess energy h nu-Phi with a maximum value of A(1PPE) = 6.2 % at Phi = 2.45 eV. The measurement explores the first excitation step of a former two-photon photoemission (2PPE) measurement with A(2PPE) = 8.4% demonstrating that in 2PPE from Co(111) the first excitation step is the dominant asymmetry-generating process. An energy-dependent measurement in 2PPE at reduced work function (Phi approximate to 3 eV) yields a constant asymmetry of about 17% in the photon energy range between h nu = 1.53-1.66 eV. It reveals that for Co(111) the involvement of a real intermediate state is crucial for enlarged MCD asymmetries. Both results are discussed in the framework of direct interband transitions in directions deviating from the direction of normal electron emission Gamma-L. The 1PPE measurement is in reasonable agreement with calculations on the basis of this model. This reveals that an ab initio calculation considering all directions of excitation with an additional restriction in energy due to the existence of the sample work function in the photoemission process adequately describes MCD asymmetries in near-threshold photoemission.

Threshold photoemission magnetic circular dichroism (TPMCD) in one-photon photoemission (1PPE) and two-photon photoemission (2PPE) is measured at an ultrathin Co film grown on Pt(111). Energy-dependent measurements reveal maximum asymmetries directly at the photoemission threshold (1.90% for 1PPE and 11.7% for 2PPE) which weakly decrease with increasing photon energy. The measured TPMCD asymmetries are discussed in two excitation models on the basis of spin-resolved band-structure calculations. For the model of direct band-to-band transitions in other k directions than the direction of observation (Gamma-L) ab initio calculations for 1PPE and 2PPE are performed. The theory is in reasonable agreement with the measured TPMCD responses. An explanation of the large 2PPE TPMCD signal is provided in terms of specific interband excitations within the first excitation step. In the case of 2PPE angle-dependent measurements reveal a continuous drop of the asymmetry with increasing angle of incidence that agrees perfectly well with a calculation using the Fresnel equations. For 1PPE a deviation from the Fresnel-field approximation is obvious.

We report the observation of magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) in two-photon photoemission (2PPE). The Heusler alloys Ni2MnGa and Co2FeSi were investigated by excitation with femtosecond laser light, showing MCD asymmetries of A = (3.5 +/- 0.5) x 10(-3) for Ni2MnGa and of A = (2.1 +/- 1.0) x 10(-3) for Co2FeSi, respectively. A theoretical explanation is provided based on local spin-density calculations for the magnetic dichroic response; the computed 2PPE MCD agrees well with the experiment. The observed 2PPE magnetic contrast represents an interesting alternative for future time-resolved photoemission studies on surface magnetism practicable in the laboratory.