Synchrotron radiation photoemission study of supported mesoscopic manganese particles

We present a photoemission study using synchrotron radiation of supported mesoscopic Mn particles deposited in situ from a gas aggregation source producing clusters with a size distribution peaking at 2.5 nm. Both, dilute assemblies of particles adsorbed on HOPG surfaces and nano-scale granular Mn-V films produced by co-depositing vanadium from an electron beam source and manganese clusters from the gas-aggregation source have been studied. Exposed manganese particles on graphite show a significant change in the lineshape of the 3s photoemission features relative to the bulk which is interpreted as an enhanced atomic magnetic moment. An increased asymmetry of the 3p line is ascribed to a less efficient screening of the core hole and is consistent with the trend observed previously in islanded Mn films. Incorporating manganese particles into a vanadium film induces a multiplet structure in the vanadium 3s core level suggesting that the manganese magnetically polarises surrounding vanadium atoms. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd