Low Energy Electronic Excitations in the Layered Cuprates Studied by CopperL3Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

Abstract

We have measured the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra at the Cu L3 edge in a variety of cuprates. Exploiting a considerably improved energy resolution (0.8 eV) we recorded significant dependencies on the sample composition and orientation, on the scattering geometry, and on the incident photon polarization. The RIXS final states correspond to two families of electronic excitations, having local (dd excitations) and nonlocal (charge-transfer) character. The dd energy splitting can be estimated with a simple crystal field model. The RIXS at the L3 edge demonstrates here a great potential, thanks to the resonance strength and to the large 2p spin-orbit splitting.

Theory ofL-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering for magnetic excitations in two-leg spin ladders

“…Our analysis has shown that the contribution of Y (2) The present theory is applicable to analyze the magnetic excitation spectrum at the Cu M 2,3 -edge. In the following, we focus on the M 3 -edge case.…”

“…Recently, progress in the experimental technique of RIXS enables us to carry out higher energy resolution measurement, 2,3 for instance, in several transition metal oxides like the cuprates. [4][5][6][7] Hill et al have succeeded in detecting the magnetic excitation spectra peaked around 500 meV energy region at the Cu K-edge in La 2 CuO 4 .…”

Comparison of charge modulations in La1.875Ba0.125CuO4and YBaThampy1, Blanco-Canosa2, García-Fernández3 et al. 2013Phys. Rev. B415490View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…We note that the scattered intensities shown here are not energy resolved, and have some contribution from inelastic scattering as well. However, the inelastic scattering comes mainly from inter-orbital transitions (dd excitations), with small contributions from paramagnon and charge transfer excitations [15,[26][27][28]. The inelastic contribution is only weakly dependent on q and can be subtracted as a flat background.…”

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of overdopedLa2−xSrxCuO4

“…From a consideration of the excitation energy of this feature, a possible origin is the local dd-excitation which has been observed around 1.5 eV. 24,25 However more detailed measurements are necessary to draw definitive conclusions.…”