High-resolution hard-x-ray photoelectron diffraction in a momentum microscope—the model case of graphite

Abstract

Abstract Hard x-ray photoelectron diffraction (hXPD) patterns recorded with a momentum microscope with high k-resolution (0.025 Å−1 equivalent to an angular resolution of 0.034° at 7 keV) reveal unprecedented rich fine structure. We have studied hXPD of the C 1s core level in the prototypical low-Z material Graphite at 20 photon energies between 2.8 and 7.3 keV. Sharp bright and dark lines shift with energy; regions of Kikuchi band crossings near zone axis exhibit a filigree structure which varies rapidly with energy. Calculations based on the Bloch wave approach to electron diffraction from lattice planes show excellent agreement with the experimental results throughout the entire energy range. The main Kikuchi bands in the [001] zone axis appear fixed on the momentum scale with a width of the corresponding reciprocal lattice vector, allowing to reconstruct the size of the projected Brillouin zone. The newly developed high-energy k-microscope allows full-field imaging of (k x , k y )-distributions in large k-fields (up to >22 Å−1 dia.) and time-of-flight energy recording.