Photoelectron techniques comprise experimental methods that detect and analyze electrons emitted from atoms, molecules, solids, or surfaces upon irradiation with photons, typically in the ultraviolet (UPS) or X-ray (XPS) regimes. By measuring photoelectron kinetic energies and angular distributions, these techniques provide quantitative information on binding energies, chemical states, valence electronic structure, and band dispersion. Implementations include angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) for momentum-resolved band mapping, time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy for ultrafast dynamics, and high-resolution XPS for core-level chemical shifts. These techniques are widely applied in surface science, catalysis, condensed matter physics, and materials characterization to probe electronic structure with elemental and, in some cases, orbital specificity.
Quantum mechanics is extremely successful at describing the behavior of matter at the atomic level. This success forces one to accept that certain aspects of physical reality go far beyond our intuition. Among these, none ...
Quantum Physics
Apr 2, 2026
1
87
Electrons are tiny and constantly in motion. How they behave in a crystal lattice determines key material properties: electrical conductivity, magnetism, or novel quantum effects. Anyone aiming to develop the information ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 15, 2026
1
225
When molecules fall apart, their electric charge doesn't stay put—it rearranges as bonds stretch and break. An international team of scientists has now tracked these ultrafast changes in the small molecule fluoromethane (CH₃F). ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 10, 2026
0
39
Researchers from Germany, Japan and India, led by scientists from DESY and the Universities of Kiel and Hamburg, have found a way to collectively make molecules on a flat surface rotate by exposing them to light using ultrafast ...
Optics & Photonics
Mar 9, 2026
0
41
When an electron travels through a polar crystalline solid, its negative charge attracts the positively charged atomic cores, causing the surrounding crystal lattice to deform. The electron and lattice distortion then move ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 17, 2026
0
136
EPFL physicists have found a way to measure the time involved in quantum events and found it depends on the symmetry of the material. "The concept of time has troubled philosophers and physicists for thousands of years, and ...
Quantum Physics
Feb 6, 2026
0
135
With an advanced technology known as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), scientists are able to map out a material's electron energy-momentum relationship, which encodes the material's electrical, optical, ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 2, 2026
0
53
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD), in collaboration with international partners, have developed momentum-resolved Floquet optical selection rules. They show how these ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 21, 2025
0
560
Diamonds with certain optically active defects can be used as highly sensitive sensors or qubits for quantum computers, where the quantum information is stored in the electron spin state of these color centers. However, the ...
Condensed Matter
Apr 15, 2025
0
62
Light was long considered to be a wave, exhibiting the phenomenon of interference in which ripples like those in water waves are generated under specific interactions. Light also bends around corners, resulting in fringing ...
