Enabling Direct-ARPES on nanostructured quantum materials grown by Dual-PLD

An innovative ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) apparatus for the growth of nanostructured quantum materials based on Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique is here presented. The so-called Dual-PLD combines the use of excimer KrF ultraviolet and solid-state Nd:YAG infra-red lasers to successfully grow a large variety of materials in the form of thin films and heterostructures. These are not limited to oxides but range from selenides to metals and others. Moreover, being UHV-connected to the APE-beamline at the Elettra synchrotron radiation facility, the Dual-PLD allows synchrotron-based angular resolved photo-emission spectroscopy (ARPES) on untreated samples thus enabling the so-called DirectARPES experiments. The results show that the Dual-PLD adds to the unique flexibility of the technique also for fabricating multiple heterostructures of very high quality, and the compactness and compatibility with in-situ surface analysis setups and therefore providing new viable routes to determine the true nature of the quantum phenomena at the surface of materials and to precisely craft their physical properties.