Epitaxial Growth and Spectroscopic Investigation of delafossite oxides

The delafossite structure of ABO2 has shown unique and interesting characteristics in terms of electronic behaviour with a conductance close to that of pure copper. The project will utilise molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow layer-by-layer palladium cobalt oxide (PdCoO2) and platinum cobalt oxide (PtCoO2). These materials will then be studied using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to elicit the electronic band structure in an attempt to discover why such electronic properties exist within a complex oxide structure.
Working the industrial partner, SASOL, the catalytic properties, due to the addition of noble metals, of the delafossite oxides will be examined. These experiments will aid in the understanding of the bridge between bulk and surface catalysis.