An in situ resonant photoemission and x-ray absorption study of the BiFeO3 thin film

Multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) thin films were prepared using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The electronic structure of the film was studied in situ using photoemission spectroscopy (PES) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Both the Fe 2p PES and XAS spectra show that the Fe ions were initially in a+3 valence state. The Fe 2p and O K edge XAS spectra indicate that the oxygen octahedral crystal ligand field divides the unoccupied Fe 3d state into t2g↓and eg↓states. Valence band Fe 2p–3d resonant photoemission results indicate that hybridization between Fe 3d and O 2p plays an important role in the multiferroic properties of BiFeO3 thin films.