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A controversy arose over the interpretation of the recently observed hump features in Hall resistivity ρ x y from ultra-thin SrRuO3 (SRO) film; it was initially interpreted to be due to topological Hall effect but was later proposed to be from existence of regions with different anomalous Hall effect (AHE). In order to settle down the issue, we performed Hall effect as well as magneto-optic Kerr-effect measurements on 4 unit cell SRO films. Clear hump features are observed in ρ x y , whereas neither hump feature nor double hysteresis loop is seen in the Kerr rotation which should be proportional to the magnetization. In addition, magnetization measurement by superconducting quantum interference device shows no sign of multiple coercive fields. These results show that inhomogeneous AHE alone cannot explain the observed hump behavior in ρ x y data. We suggest that emergence of the hump structure in ρ x y is closely related to the growth condition.

Transition metal perovskite oxides display a variety of emergent phenomena which are tunable by tailoring the oxygen octahedral rotation. SrRuO$_3$, a ferromagnetic perovskite oxide, is well-known to have various atomic structures and octahedral rotations when grown as thin films. However, how the electronic structure changes with the film thickness has been hardly studied. Here, by using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and electron diffraction techniques, we study the electronic structure of SrRuO$_3$ thin films as a function of the film thickness. Different reconstructed electronic structures and spectral weights are observed for films with various thicknesses. We suggest that octahedral rotations on the surface can be qualitatively estimated via comparison of intensities of different bands. Our observation and methodology shed light on how structural variation and transition may be understood in terms of photoemission spectroscopy data., Comment: 4 figures

We performed in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and spin-resolved ARPES (SARPES) experiments to investigate the relationship between electronic band structures and ferromagnetism in SrRuO$_3$ (SRO) thin films. Our high-quality ARPES and SARPES results show clear spin-lifted band structures. The spin polarization is strongly dependent on momentum around the Fermi level, whereas it becomes less dependent at high-binding energies. This experimental observation matches our dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) results very well. As temperature increases from low to the Curie temperature, spin-splitting gap decreases and band dispersions become incoherent. Based on the ARPES study and theoretical calculation results, we found that SRO possesses spin-dependent electron correlations in which majority and minority spins are localized and itinerant, respectively. Our finding explains how ferromagnetism and electronic structure are connected, which has been under debate for decades in SRO., 6 pages, 4 figures

In spectroscopic experiments, data acquisition in multi-dimensional phase space may require long acquisition time, owing to the large phase space volume to be covered. In such case, the limited time available for data acquisition can be a serious constraint for experiments in which multidimensional spectral data are acquired. Here, taking angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) as an example, we demonstrate a denoising method that utilizes deep learning as an intelligent way to overcome the constraint. With readily available ARPES data and random generation of training data set, we successfully trained the denoising neural network without overfitting. The denoising neural network can remove the noise in the data while preserving its intrinsic information. We show that the denoising neural network allows us to perform similar level of second-derivative and line shape analysis on data taken with two orders of magnitude less acquisition time. The importance of our method lies in its applicability to any multidimensional spectral data that are susceptible to statistical noise., Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures

SrRuO

We studied the electronic band structure of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) grown (111)-oriented SrRuO$_3$ (SRO) thin films using \textit{in situ} angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) technique. We observed previously unreported, light bands with a renormalized quasiparticle effective mass of about 0.8$m_{e}$. The electron-phonon coupling underlying this mass renormalization yields a characteristic "kink" in the band dispersion. The self-energy analysis using the Einstein model suggests five optical phonon modes covering an energy range 44 to 90 meV contribute to the coupling. Besides, we show that the quasiparticle spectral intensity at the Fermi level is considerably suppressed, and two prominent peaks appear in the valance band spectrum at binding energies of 0.8 eV and 1.4 eV, respectively. We discuss the possible implications of these observations. Overall, our work demonstrates that high-quality thin films of oxides with large spin-orbit coupling can be grown along the polar (111) orientation by the PLD technique, enabling \textit{in situ} electronic band structure study. This could allow for characterizing the thickness-dependent evolution of band structure of (111) heterostructures$-$a prerequisite for exploring possible topological quantum states in the bilayer limit.

We studied the surface and electronic structures of barium stannate (${\mathrm{BaSnO}}_{3}$) thin films by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) techniques. ${\mathrm{BaSnO}}_{3}/{\mathrm{Ba}}_{0.96}{\mathrm{La}}_{0.04}{\mathrm{SnO}}_{3}/{\mathrm{SrTiO}}_{3}$ (10 nm/100 nm/0.5 mm) samples were grown using the pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) method and were ex situ transferred from the PLD chamber to ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chambers for annealing, LEED, and ARPES studies. UHV annealing starting from $300{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$ up to $550{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$, followed by LEED and ARPES measurements, show $1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1$ surfaces with nondispersive energy-momentum bands. The $1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1$ surface reconstructs into a $\sqrt{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{2}R{45}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ one at an annealing temperature of $700{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$ where the ARPES data show clear dispersive bands with a valence band maximum located around 3.3 eV below the Fermi level. While the $\sqrt{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{2}R{45}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ surface reconstruction is stable under further UHV annealing, it is reversed to a $1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1$ surface by annealing the sample in 400 mTorr oxygen at $600{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$. Another UHV annealing at $600{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$, followed by LEED and ARPES measurements, suggests that LEED $\sqrt{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{2}R{45}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ surface reconstruction and ARPES dispersive bands are reproduced. Our results provide a better picture of the electronic structure of ${\mathrm{BaSnO}}_{3}$ surfaces and are suggestive of the role of oxygen vacancies in reversible $\sqrt{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{2}R{45}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ surface reconstruction.

Magnetism and spin–orbit coupling are two quintessential ingredients underlying topological transport phenomena in itinerant ferromagnets. When spin-polarized bands support nodal points/lines with band degeneracy that can be lifted by spin–orbit coupling, the nodal structures become a source of Berry curvature, leading to a large anomalous Hall effect. However, two-dimensional systems can possess stable nodal structures only when proper crystalline symmetry exists. Here we show that two-dimensional spin-polarized band structures of perovskite oxides generally support symmetry-protected nodal lines and points that govern both the sign and the magnitude of the anomalous Hall effect. To demonstrate this, we performed angle-resolved photoemission studies of ultrathin films of SrRuO3, a representative metallic ferromagnet with spin–orbit coupling. We show that the sign-changing anomalous Hall effect upon variation in the film thickness, magnetization and chemical potential can be well explained by theoretical models. Our work may facilitate new switchable devices based on ferromagnetic ultrathin films. The topological nature of the electronic structure of two-dimensional ferromagnetic SrRuO3 and its relationship to the anomalous Hall effect is explored through transport measurements, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and theoretical modelling.

The electronic structure of ${\mathrm{SrRuO}}_{3}$ thin film with a thickness from 1 to 50 unit cell (u.c.) is investigated via the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) technique at the O $K$ edge to unravel the intriguing interplay of orbital and charge degrees of freedom. We found that the orbital-selective quantum confinement effect (QCE) induces the splitting of Ru $4d$ orbitals. At the same time, we observed a clear suppression of the electron-hole continuum across the metal-to-insulator transition occurring in the 4-u.c. sample. From these two clear observations we conclude that the QCE gives rise to a Mott insulating phase in ultrathin ${\mathrm{SrRuO}}_{3}$ films. Our interpretation of the RIXS spectra is supported by the configuration interaction calculations of ${\mathrm{RuO}}_{6}$ clusters.

Ferromagnetism and exotic topological structures in SrRuO$_3$ (SRO) induce sign-changing anomalous Hall effect (AHE). Recently, hump structures have been reported in the Hall resistivity of SRO thin films, especially in the ultra-thin regime. We investigate the AHE and hump structure in the Hall resistivity of SRO ultra-thin films with an SrTiO$_3$ (STO) capping layer and ionic liquid gating. STO capping results in sign changes in the AHE and modulation of the hump structure. In particular, the hump structure in the Hall resistivity is strongly modulated and even vanishes in STO-capped 4 unit cell (uc) films. In addition, the conductivity of STO-capped SRO ultra-thin films is greatly enhanced with restored ferromagnetism. We also performed ionic liquid gating to modulate the electric field at SRO/STO interface. Drastic changes in the AHE and hump structure are observed with different gate voltages. Our study shows that the hump structure as well as the AHE can be controlled by tuning inversion symmetry and the electric field at the interface., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We report on a combined measurement of high-resolution x-ray diffraction on powder and Raman scattering on single crystalline ${\mathrm{NiS}}_{2\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Se}}_{x}$ samples that exhibit the insulator-metal transition with Se doping. Via x rays, an abrupt change in the bond length between Ni and S (Se) ions was observed at the transition temperature, in sharp contrast to the almost constant bond length between chalcogen ions. Raman scattering, a complementary technique with the unique sensitivity to the vibrations of chalcogen bonds, revealed no anomalies in the phonon spectrum, consistent with the x-ray diffraction results. This indicates the important role of the interaction between Ni and S (Se) in the insulator-metal transition. The potential implication of this interpretation is discussed in terms of current theoretical models.

We observed a hump-like feature in Hall effects of SrRuO$_3$ ultrathin films, and systematically investigated it with controlling thicknesses, temperatures and magnetic fields. The hump-like feature is extremely stable, even surviving as a magnetic field is tilted by as much as 85$^\circ$. Based on the atomic-level structural analysis of a SrRuO$_3$ ultrathin film with a theoretical calculation, we reveal that atomic rumplings at the thin-film surface enhance Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which can generate stable chiral spin textures and a hump-like Hall effect. Moreover, temperature dependent resonant X-ray measurements at Ru L-edge under a magnetic field showed that the intensity modulation of unexpected peaks was correlated with the hump region in the Hall effect. We verify that the two-dimensional property of ultrathin films generates stable non-coplanar spin textures having a magnetic order in a ferromagnetic oxide material.