Prof. Dr. Peter Puschnig » People

@article{Bennecke2024,

title = {Disentangling the multiorbital contributions of excitons by photoemission exciton tomography},

author = {W. Bennecke and A. Windischbacher and D. Schmitt and J. P. Bange and R. Hemm and C. S. Kern and G. D’Avino and X. Blase and D. Steil and S. Steil and M. Aeschlimann and B. Stadtmüller and M. Reutzel and P. Puschnig and G. S. M. Jansen and S. Mathias},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-45973-x},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-28},

urldate = {2024-02-28},

journal = {Nature Communications},

volume = {15},

number = {1804},

pages = {10},

abstract = {Excitons are realizations of a correlated many-particle wave function, specifi-cally consisting of electrons and holes in an entangled state. Excitons occurwidely in semiconductors and are dominant excitations in semiconductingorganic and low-dimensional quantum materials. To efficiently harness thestrong optical response and high tuneability of excitons in optoelectronics andin energy-transformation processes,access to the full wavefunction of theentangled state is critical, but has so far not been feasible. Here, we show howtime-resolved photoemission momentum microscopy can be used to gainaccess to the entangled wavefunction and to unravel the exciton’s multiorbitalelectron and hole contributions. For the prototypical organic semiconductorbuckminsterfullerene (C60), we exemplify the capabilities of exciton tomo-graphy and achieve unprecedented access to key properties of the entangledexciton state including localization, charge-transfer character, and ultrafastexciton formation and relaxation dynamics.},

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pubstate = {published},

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}

@article{Klein2024,

title = {Peri-Tetracene from 1,1′-Bitetracene: Zipping up Structurally Defined Graphene Nanoribbons},

author = {M. Klein and J. B. Bauer and N. Kainbacher and M. S. Wagner and K. Greulich and P. Haizmann and E. Giangrisostomi and R. Ovsyannikov and P. Puschnig and T. Chassé and H. F. Bettinger and H. Peisert},

doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c08182},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-22},

journal = {J. Phys. Chem. C},

volume = {128},

pages = {4048-4059},

abstract = {Polycyclicaromatichydrocarbons(PAHs) are promising molecules for a manifold of applications in organic electronics, spintronics, or energy storage devices. Among PAHs, particular attention has been focused on the synthesis and study of acenes and fused acenes, peri-acenes, allowing tuning of the highest occupied molecular orbital−lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO−LUMO) gap with the size of the conjugated system. As a starting point for the surface synthesis of larger PAHs, we synthesized a 1,1′-bitetracene for the first time. This precursor molecule consists of two tetracene units connected via the 1,1′-position with a torsion angle of 70°.  The interface properties of the molecule before and after annealing on a Cu(111) surface are investigated. Using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy(XPS), angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and scanning-tunneling microscopy (STM), it is experimentally demonstrated that the tetracene units zip up with the help of heat forming peri-tetracene. These results and the exact adsorption geometry are in excellent agreement with calculations using density functionaltheory (DFT). Moreover, the calculations enable the identification of newly formed valence band states at the interface to Cu(111).},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Kern2023,

title = {Photoemission orbital tomography for excitons in organic molecules},

author = {C. S. Kern and A. Windischbacher and P. Puschnig},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.108.085132},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-08-22},

urldate = {2023-08-22},

journal = {Phys. Rev. B},

volume = {108},

pages = {085132},

abstract = {Driven by recent developments in time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we extend the successful method of photoemission orbital tomography (POT) to excitons. Our theory retains the intuitive orbital picture of POT, while respecting both the entangled character of the exciton wave function and the energy conservation in the photoemission process. Analyzing results from three organic molecules, we classify generic exciton structures and give a simple interpretation in terms of natural transition orbitals. We validate our findings by directly simulating pump-probe experiments with time-dependent density functional theory.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Yang2022,

title = {Momentum-selective orbital hybridisation},

author = {X. Yang and M. Jugovac and G. Zamborlini and V. Feyer and G. Koller and P. Puschnig and S. Soubatch and M. G. Ramsey and F. S. Tautz},

doi = {10.1038/s41467-022-32643-z},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

urldate = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Nat. Commun.},

volume = {13},

pages = {5148},

abstract = {When a molecule interacts chemically with a metal surface, the orbitals of the molecule hybridise with metal states to form the new eigenstates of the coupled system. Spatial overlap and energy matching are determining parameters of the hybridisation. However, since every molecular orbital does not only have a characteristic spatial shape, but also a specific momentum distribution, one may additionally expect a momentum matching condition; after all, each hybridising wave function of the metal has a defined wave vector, too. Here, we report photoemission orbital tomography measurements of hybrid orbitals that emerge from molecular orbitals at a molecule-on-metal interface. We find that in the hybrid orbitals only those partial waves of the original orbital survive which match the metal band structure. Moreover, we find that the conversion of the metal’s surface state into a hybrid interface state is also governed by momentum matching constraints. Our experiments demonstrate the possibility to measure hybridisation momentum-selectively, thereby enabling deep insights into the complicated interplay of bulk states, surface states, and molecular orbitals in the formation of the electronic interface structure at molecule-on-metal hybrid interfaces.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Haags2021,

title = {Momentum-space imaging of σ-orbitals for chemical analysis},

author = {A. Haags and X. Yang and L. Egger and D. Brandstetter and H. Kirschner and F. C. Bocquet and G. Koller and A. Gottwald and M. Richter and J. M. Gottfried and M. G. Ramsey and P. Puschnig and S. Soubatch and F. S. Tautz},

doi = {10.1126/sciadv.abn0819},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

urldate = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Sci. Adv.},

volume = {8},

pages = {eabn0819},

abstract = {Tracing the modifications of molecules in surface chemical reactions benefits from the possibility to image their orbitals. While delocalized frontier orbitals with π character are imaged routinely with photoemission orbital tomography, they are not always sensitive to local chemical modifications, particularly the making and breaking of bonds at the molecular periphery. For such bonds, σ orbitals would be far more revealing. Here, we show that these orbitals can indeed be imaged in a remarkably broad energy range and that the plane wave approximation, an important ingredient of photoemission orbital tomography, is also well fulfilled for these orbitals. This makes photoemission orbital tomography a unique tool for the detailed analysis of surface chemical reactions. We demonstrate this by identifying the reaction product of a dehalogenation and cyclodehydrogenation reaction.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Hurdax2022,

title = {Large Distortion of Fused Aromatics on Dielectric Interlayers Quantified by Photoemission Orbital Tomography},

author = {P. Hurdax and C. S. Kern and T. G. Boné and A. Haags and M. Hollerer and L. Egger and X. Yang and H. Kirschner and A. Gottwald and M. Richter and F. C. Bocquet and S. Soubatch and G. Koller and F. S. Tautz and M. Sterrer and P. Puschnig and M. G. Ramsey},

doi = {10.1021/acsnano.2c08631},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {ACS Nano},

volume = {16},

pages = {17435-17443},

abstract = {Polycyclic aromatic compounds with fused benzene rings offer an extraordinary versatility as next-generation organic semiconducting materials for nanoelectronics and optoelectronics due to their tunable characteristics, including charge-carrier mobility and optical absorption. Nonplanarity can be an additional parameter to customize their electronic and optical properties without changing the aromatic core. In this work, we report a combined experimental and theoretical study in which we directly observe large, geometry-induced modifications in the frontier orbitals of a prototypical dye molecule when adsorbed on an atomically thin dielectric interlayer on a metallic substrate. Experimentally, we employ angle-resolved photoemission experiments, interpreted in the framework of the photoemission orbital tomography technique. We demonstrate its sensitivity to detect geometrical bends in adsorbed molecules and highlight the role of the photon energy used in experiment for detecting such geometrical distortions. Theoretically, we conduct density functional calculations to determine the geometric and electronic structure of the adsorbed molecule and simulate the photoemission angular distribution patterns. While we found an overall good agreement between experimental and theoretical data, our results also unveil limitations in current van der Waals corrected density functional approaches for such organic/dielectric interfaces. Hence, photoemission orbital tomography provides a vital experimental benchmark for such systems. By comparison with the state of the same molecule on a metallic substrate, we also offer an explanation why the adsorption on the dielectric induces such large bends in the molecule.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Wallauer2020,

title = {Tracing orbital images on ultrafast time scales},

author = {R. Wallauer and M. Raths and K. Stallberg and L. Münster and D. Brandstetter and X. Yang and J. Güdde and P. Puschnig and S. Soubatch and C. Kumpf and F. C. Bocquet and F. S. Tautz and U. Höfer},

doi = {10.1126/science.abf3286},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-01-01},

urldate = {2021-01-01},

journal = {Science},

volume = {371},

pages = {1056-1059},

abstract = {Frontier orbitals determine fundamental molecular properties such as chemical reactivities. Although electron distributions of occupied orbitals can be imaged in momentum space by photoemission tomography, it has so far been impossible to follow the momentum-space dynamics of a molecular orbital in time, for example, through an excitation or a chemical reaction. Here, we combined time-resolved photoemission using high laser harmonics and a momentum microscope to establish a tomographic, femtosecond pump-probe experiment of unoccupied molecular orbitals. We measured the full momentum-space distribution of transiently excited electrons, connecting their excited-state dynamics to real-space excitation pathways. Because in molecules this distribution is closely linked to orbital shapes, our experiment may, in the future, offer the possibility of observing ultrafast electron motion in time and space.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Weiss2015,

title = {Exploring three-dimensional orbital imaging with energy-dependent photoemission tomography},

author = {S. Weiß and D. Lüftner and T. Ules and E. M. Reinisch and H. Kaser and A. Gottwald and M. Richter and S. Soubatch and G. Koller and M. G. Ramsey and F. S. Tautz and P. Puschnig},

doi = {10.1038/ncomms9287},

year  = {2015},

date = {2015-01-01},

journal = {Nat. Commun.},

volume = {6},

pages = {8287},

abstract = {Recently, it has been shown that experimental data from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on oriented molecular films can be utilized to retrieve real-space images of molecular orbitals in two dimensions. Here, we extend this orbital tomography technique by performing photoemission initial state scans as a function of photon energy on the example of the brickwall monolayer of 3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) on Ag(110). The overall dependence of the photocurrent on the photon energy can be well accounted for by assuming a plane wave for the final state. However, the experimental data, both for the highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of PTCDA, exhibits an additional modulation attributed to final state scattering effects. Nevertheless, as these effects beyond a plane wave final state are comparably small, we are able, with extrapolations beyond the attainable photon energy range, to reconstruct three-dimensional images for both orbitals in agreement with calculations for the adsorbed molecule.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Lueftner2014,

title = {Imaging the wave functions of adsorbed molecules},

author = {D. Lüftner and T. Ules and E. M. Reinisch and G. Koller and S. Soubatch and F. S. Tautz and M. G. Ramsey and P. Puschnig},

doi = {10.1073/pnas.1315716110},

year  = {2014},

date = {2014-01-01},

journal = {PNAS},

volume = {111},

number = {2},

pages = {605-610},

abstract = {The basis for a quantum-mechanical description of matter is electron wave functions. For atoms and molecules, their spatial distributions and phases are known as orbitals. Although orbitals are very powerful concepts, experimentally only the electron densities and -energy levels are directly observable. Regardless whether orbitals are observed in real space with scanning probe experiments, or in reciprocal space by photoemission, the phase information of the orbital is lost. Here, we show that the experimental momentum maps of angle-resolved photoemission from molecular orbitals can be transformed to real-space orbitals via an iterative procedure which also retrieves the lost phase information. This is demonstrated with images obtained of a number of orbitals of the molecules pentacene (C22H14) and perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (C24H8O6), adsorbed on silver, which are in excellent agreement with ab initio calculations. The procedure requires no a priori knowledge of the orbitals and is shown to be simple and robust.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Puschnig2011,

title = {Orbital tomography: Deconvoluting photoemission spectra of organic molecules},

author = {P. Puschnig and E. M. Reinisch and T. Ules and G. Koller and S. Soubatch and M. Ostler and L. Romaner and F. S. Tautz and C. Ambrosch-Draxl and M. G. Ramsey},

doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.84.235427},

year  = {2011},

date = {2011-12-01},

urldate = {2011-12-01},

journal = {Phys. Rev. B},

volume = {84},

pages = {235427},

publisher = {American Physical Society},

abstract = {We study the interface of an organic monolayer with a metallic surface, i.e., PTCDA (3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic-dianhydride) on Ag(110), by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and ab initio electronic structure calculations. We present a tomographic method that uses the energy and momentum dependence of ARPES data to deconvolute spectra into individual orbital contributions beyond the limits of energy resolution. This provides an orbital-by-orbital characterization of large adsorbate systems without the need to invoke a sophisticated theory of photoemission, allowing us to directly estimate the effects of bonding on individual orbitals. Moreover, these experimental data serve as a most stringent test necessary for the further development of ab initio electronic structure theory.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Puschnig2009,

title = {Reconstruction of Molecular Orbital Densities from Photoemission Data},

author = {P. Puschnig and S. Berkebile and A. J. Fleming and G. Koller and K. Emtsev and T. Seyller and J. D. Riley and C. Ambrosch-Draxl and F. P. Netzer and M. G. Ramsey},

doi = {10.1126/science.1176105},

year  = {2009},

date = {2009-01-01},

urldate = {2009-01-01},

journal = {Science},

volume = {326},

number = {5953},

pages = {702-706},

abstract = {Photoemission spectroscopy is commonly applied to study the band structure of solids by measuring the kinetic energy versus angular distribution of the photoemitted electrons. Here, we apply this experimental technique to characterize discrete orbitals of large π-conjugated molecules. By measuring the photoemission intensity from a constant initial-state energy over a hemispherical region, we generate reciprocal space maps of the emitting orbital density. We demonstrate that the real-space electron distribution of molecular orbitals in both a crystalline pentacene film and a chemisorbed p-sexiphenyl monolayer can be obtained from a simple Fourier transform of the measurement data. The results are in good agreement with density functional calculations.},

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pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}