In this talk, I present some of the opportunities offered by synchrotron radiation based spectroscopy in the soft x-ray and VUV spectral ranges to characterise the magnetism and electronic structure of materials suitable for spintronic applications. I present work performed at MAX IV-lab, at the I1011 and I3 beamlines, which allow probing both the spin and electronic state of the photo-excited atoms. I discuss in particular results from the dilute magnetic semiconductors systems GaN doped with Fe and ZnO doped with Bi, using soft x-ray x-ray absorption spectroscopy. [1,2] I also discuss x-ray absorption spectroscopy and spin resolved photoemission results of molecular adsorption on ferromagnetic surfaces. [3] The results are underlying the uniqueness of synchrotron radiation based spectroscopy to characterise new types of spintronic materials.

1. I. A. Kowalik, A. Persson, M. Á. Niño et al. Phys. Rev. B 85, 184411 (2012)
2. Juwon Lee, N. G. Subramaniam, I. A. Kowalik et al. Sci. Rep. 5, 17053 (2015)
3. M. Á. Niño, I. A. Kowalik, F. J. Luque et al. Adv. Mater. 26, 7474 (2014)