Resonant photoelectron diffraction

Abstract

A layout of a resonant photoelectron diffraction, RESPED, experiment is described from the theoretical basis to the data acquisition and analysis procedures. The theory of the resonance between the directly emitted photoelectron of a selected valence band and the electron emitted by autoionization (Auger) of the same valence band is presented within a formal frame. The critical issue of the angular symmetry and distribution of the resonating electron is discussed in connection with the current computational protocols for photoelectron diffraction, PED, analysis. A few representative applications are presented, where RESPED is shown to overcome some limitations of conventional PED thanks to the possibility of enhancing the signal of low concentration species, providing a chemical selectivity in the valence band, and discriminating the contribution from atoms of the same species, but in different structural environments or valence state. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.