X-ray photoelectron and resistivity studies of the Pd-covered Ce thin films

•Thin films of Ce – successful prevention from oxidation by usage of Pd overlayers.•XPS studies – Ce is at a border between fluctuating valence and a localized state.•Resistivity studies – the interface Ce-Pd with Kondo lattice and impurity effects.•The dimensional effect switches at dCe = 50 nm. We...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials 2020-04, Vol.499, p.166283, Article 166283
Main Authors: Skokowski, P., Marczyńska, A., Pacanowski, S., Toliński, T., Wachowiak, M., Szymański, B., Majchrzycki, Ł., Smardz, L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bilayers
Cerium
Dimensional effects
Electrical resistivity
Kondo effect
Magnetron sputtering
Oxidation
Palladium
Photoelectron spectroscopy
Photoelectrons
Silicon
Silicon dioxide
Substrates
Thickness
Thin films
Ultrahigh vacuum
Variations
X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
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Summary:•Thin films of Ce – successful prevention from oxidation by usage of Pd overlayers.•XPS studies – Ce is at a border between fluctuating valence and a localized state.•Resistivity studies – the interface Ce-Pd with Kondo lattice and impurity effects.•The dimensional effect switches at dCe = 50 nm. We have fabricated Ce/Pd bilayers grown on the SiO2 substrate by magnetron sputtering under ultrahigh vacuum. Usage of palladium layer on top of the Ce film appears to prevent effectively the sample oxidation. The thickness of the cerium films is between 10-200 nm and 10 nm-thick palladium overlayers are always used. We have performed in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on the as-deposited films and ex-situ electrical resistivity measurements and XRD characterization. XPS confirms a very good quality of the samples. The analysis of the Ce 3d spectrum suggests that the f states of Ce are on the border between the fluctuating valence and localization. The resistivity measurements reveal a competition of the Kondo scattering, semiconducting and metallic behaviors as well as the influence of the dimensional effect.
ISSN:0304-8853
1873-4766
DOI:10.1016/j.jmmm.2019.166283