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We use a spatially resolved, direct spectroscopic probe for electronic structure with an additional sensitivity to chemical compositions to investigate high-quality single crystal samples of La(1/4)Pr(3/8)Ca(3/8)MnO3, establishing the formation of distinct insulating domains embedded in the metallic host at low temperatures. These domains are found to be at least an order of magnitude larger in size compared to previous estimates and exhibit memory effects on temperature cycling in the absence of any perceptible chemical inhomogeneity, suggesting long-range strains as the probable origin.

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In the course of 1998, the Spectromicroscopy beamline at ELETTRA completed commissioning and succeeded in performing its first test experiments. The beamline is designed to perform photoemission experiments with high spatial resolution, which is obtained by focusing the radiation in a small spot on the sample by means of a multilayer-coated Schwarzschild Objective. Three objectives are currently available; these operate at photon energies of 74, 95, and 110 eV. A review is presented of the performances achieved together with an outlook on the future upgrades of the microscope. The smallest achievable spot size is currently 0.5 μm. At present, the limit to the spatial resolution is due to aberrations caused by figure errors of the objective. Typical counting rates in photoemission spectra, for example, on the Au 5d peak, are of the order of 104–105 counts per second with an energy resolution of the order of 100–200 meV. Among the first experiments in which p- and n-type GaAs layers of 0.25 μm thickness were imaged.