We report a resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of the dispersion relations of charge transfer excitations in insulating La2CuO4. These data reveal two peaks, both of which show two-dimensional characteristics. The lowest energy excitation has a gap energy of ∼ 2.2 eV at the zone center, and a dispersion of ∼ 1 eV. The spectral weight of this mode becomes dramatically smaller around (π, π). The second peak shows a smaller dispersion (∼ 0.5 eV) with a zone-center energy of ∼ 3.9 eV. We argue that these are both highly dispersive exciton modes damped by the presence of the electron-hole continuum.PACS numbers: 74.25.Jb, 74.72.Dn, 78.70.Ck, Understanding strongly correlated electron systems, such as the cuprate superconductors, remains at the heart of much of current condensed matter research. As a first step toward elucidating electron correlation effects in these systems, it is important to study the behavior of elementary excitations using various spectroscopic tools. For example, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) has become an indispensable probe for studying the excitation spectrum of a single quasiparticle [1,2], while inelastic neutron scattering has been invaluable in the investigation of low-energy collective modes (1 ∼ 100 meV), such as phonons and magnons [3]. However, to date only limited information has been available on collective excitations at an energy scale on the order of ∼ 1 eV. This is unfortunate, since in this energy range, the electron dynamics are governed directly by the various hopping integrals and by the Coulomb interaction. Thus, an investigation of the dispersion relations of such collective charge excitations would yield invaluable information for any microscopic theory of charge dynamics in the copper oxides.In this Letter, we present a detailed study of the momentum-dependence of the charge excitations in La 2 CuO 4 , utilizing resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). In the simplest picture of this insulating cuprate, the ground state consists of one hole per copper ion (Cu 2+ ), and the low-lying electronic excitations include excitons formed via a charge-transfer (CT) process, in which charge is moved from the oxygen onto the copper [4,5,6]. Specifically, an electron-hole pair, created by exciting an electron from the valence band -the ZhangRice (ZR) band [7] -to the conduction band across the CT gap, can form a bound exciton state as a result of the Coulomb interaction. This CT exciton is expected to have a large dispersion, since it has zero spin and can move without disturbing the antiferromagnetic order of the copper oxide plane. Consistent with this, our highresolution measurements have enabled us to identify an exciton-like feature at 2.2 eV with a dispersion of 1 eV. In addition, a second peak at slightly higher energy is also observed. This has a zone-center energy of 3.9 eV and a dispersion of 0.5 eV. Finally, we also discuss a dramatic reduction in spectral weight of the CT exciton observed near the (π π) position.The RIXS technique in the hard...

We report x-ray scattering studies of broad peaks located at a (0.5 0 0)/(0 0.5 0)-type wavevector in the paramagnetic insulating phases of La 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 and Pr 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 . We interpret the scattering in terms of correlated polarons and measure isotropic correlation lengths of 1-2 lattice constants in both samples. Based on the wavevector and correlation lengths, the correlated polarons are found to be consistent with CE-type bipolarons. Differences in behavior between the samples arise as they are cooled through their respective transition temperatures and become ferromagnetic metallic (La 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 ) or charge and orbitally ordered insulating (Pr 0.7 Ca 0.3 MnO 3 ). Since the primary difference between the two samples is the trivalent cation size, these results illustrate the robust nature of the correlated polarons to variations in the relative strength of the electron-phonon coupling, and the sensitivity of the low-temperature ground state to such variations.

The spin-density wave (SDW) and charge-density wave (CDW) order in superconducting La1.45Nd0.4Sr0.15CuO4 were studied under an applied magnetic field using neutron and X-ray diffraction techniques. In zero field, incommensurate (IC) SDW order appears below ∼ 40 K, which is characterized by neutron diffraction peaks at (1/2 ± 0.134, 1/2 ± 0.134, 0). The intensity of these IC peaks increases rapidly below T Nd ∼ 8 K due to an ordering of the Nd 3+ spins. The application of a 1 T magnetic field parallel to the c-axis markedly diminishes the intensity below T Nd , while only a slight decrease in intensity is observed at higher temperatures for fields up to 7 T. Our interpretation is that the c-axis field suppresses the parasitic Nd 3+ spin order at the incommensurate wave vector without disturbing the stripe order of Cu 2+ spins. Consistent with this picture, the CDW order, which appears below 60 K, shows no change for magnetic fields up to 4 T. These results stand in contrast to the significant field-induced enhancement of the SDW order observed in superconducting La2−xSrxCuO4 with x ∼ 0.12 and stage-4 La2CuO4+y. The differences can be understood in terms of the relative volume fraction exhibiting stripe order in zero field, and the collective results are consistent with the idea that suppression of superconductivity by vortices nucleates local patches of stripe order.

We report x-ray