High-kinetic-energy photoemission spectroscopy of Ni at 1s: 6-eV satellite at 4 eV

Electron correlations are responsible for many profound phenomena in solid-state physics. A classical example is the 6-eV satellite in the photoelectron spectrum of Ni. Until now the satellite structure has only been investigated at the L shell and more shallow levels. Here we report a high-kinetic-energy photoemission spectroscopy (HIKE) investigation of Ni metal. We present 1s and 2p photoelectron spectra, obtained using excitation energies up to 12.6 keV. Our investigation demonstrates that the energy position of the satellite relative to the main line is different for the 1s and the 2p levels. In combination with electronic structure calculations, we show that this energy shift is attributed to unique differences in the core-valence coupling for the K and L(2,3) shells in 3d transition metals, resulting in different screening of the core holes.