Temperature-dependent spin-resolved electronic structure of EuO thin films

Abstract

The electronic structure of the ferromagnetic semiconductor EuO is investigated by means of spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (spin-ARPES) and density functional theory. EuO exhibits unique properties of hosting both weakly-dispersive nearly fully polarized Eu $4f$ bands, as well as O $2p$ levels indirectly exchange-split by the interaction with Eu nearest neighbors. Our temperature-dependent spin-ARPES data directly demonstrates the exchange splitting in O $2p$ and its vanishing at the Curie temperature. Our calculations with a Hubbard $U$ term reveal a complex nature of the local exchange splitting on the oxygen site and in conduction bands. We discuss the mechanisms of the indirect exchange in the O 2p levels by analyzing orbital-resolved band characters in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. The directional effects due to spin-orbit coupling are predicted theoretically to be significant in particular in the Eu 4f band manifold. The analysis of the shape of spin-resolved spectra in the Eu $4f$ spectral region reveals signatures of hybridization with O $2p$, in agreement with the theoretical predictions. We also analyze spectral changes in the spin-integrated spectra throughout the Curie temperature and demonstrate they derive from both the magnetic phase transition and effects due to sample aging, unavoidable for this highly reactive material.