294 research outputs found
Spin-state transition in LaCoO3: direct neutron spectroscopic evidence of excited magnetic states
A gradual spin-state transition occurs in LaCoO3 around T~80-120 K, whose
detailed nature remains controversial. We studied this transition by means of
inelastic neutron scattering (INS), and found that with increasing temperature
an excitation at ~0.6 meV appears, whose intensity increases with temperature,
following the bulk magnetization. Within a model including crystal field
interaction and spin-orbit coupling we interpret this excitation as originating
from a transition between thermally excited states located about 120 K above
the ground state. We further discuss the nature of the magnetic excited state
in terms of intermediate-spin (IS, S=1) vs. high-spin (HS, S=2) states. Since
the g-factor obtained from the field dependence of the INS is g~3, the second
interpretation looks more plausible.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Non-resonant inelastic x-ray scattering involving excitonic excitations
In a recent publication Larson \textit{et al.} reported remarkably clear
- excitations for NiO and CoO measured with x-ray energies well below the
transition metal edge. In this letter we demonstrate that we can obtain an
accurate quantitative description based on a local many body approach. We find
that the magnitude of can be tuned for maximum sensitivity for
dipole, quadrupole, etc. excitations. We also find that the direction of
with respect to the crystal axes can be used as an equivalent to
polarization similar to electron energy loss spectroscopy, allowing for a
determination of the local symmetry of the initial and final state based on
selection rules. This method is more generally applicable and combined with the
high resolution available, could be a powerful tool for the study of local
distortions and symmetries in transition metal compounds including also buried
interfaces
Quantitative study of valence and configuration interaction parameters of the Kondo semiconductors CeM2Al10 (M = Ru, Os and Fe) by means of bulk-sensitive hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
The occupancy of the 4f^n contributions in the Kondo semiconductors
CeM2Al10(M = Ru, Os and Fe) has been quantitatively determined by means of
bulk-sensitive hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) on the Ce 3d core
levels. Combining a configuration interaction scheme with full multiplet
calculations allowed to accurately describe the HAXPES data despite the
presence of strong plasmon excitations in the spectra. The configuration
interaction parameters obtained from this analysis -- in particular the
hybridization strength V_eff and the effective f binding energy Delta_f --
indicate a slightly stronger exchange interaction in CeOs2Al10 compared to
CeRu2Al10, and a significant increase in CeFe2Al10. This verifies the
coexistence of a substantial amount of Kondo screening with magnetic order and
places the entire CeM2Al10 family in the region of strong exchange
interactions.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review
CeRuSn: a strongly correlated material with nontrivial topology
Topological insulators form a novel state of matter that provides new
opportunities to create unique quantum phenomena. While the materials used so
far are based on semiconductors, recent theoretical studies predict that also
strongly correlated systems can show non-trivial topological properties,
thereby allowing even the emergence of surface phenomena that are not possible
with topological band insulators. From a practical point of view, it is also
expected that strong correlations will reduce the disturbing impact of defects
or impurities, and at the same increase the Fermi velocities of the topological
surface states. The challenge is now to discover such correlated materials.
Here, using advanced x-ray spectroscopies in combination with band structure
calculations, we infer that CeRuSn is a strongly correlated material
with non-trivial topology.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Scientific Report
Bulk and surface electronic properties of SmB6: a hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study
We have carried out bulk-sensitive hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(HAXPES) measurements on in-situ cleaved and ex-situ polished SmB6 single
crystals. Using the multiplet-structure in the Sm 3d core level spectra, we
determined reliably that the valence of Sm in bulk SmB6 is close to 2.55 at ~5
K. Temperature dependent measurements revealed that the Sm valence gradually
increases to 2.64 at 300 K. From a detailed line shape analysis we can clearly
observe that not only the J=0 but also the J=1 state of the Sm 4f 6
configuration becomes occupied at elevated temperatures. Making use of the
polarization dependence, we were able to identify and extract the Sm 4f
spectral weight of the bulk material. Finally, we revealed that the oxidized or
chemically damaged surface region of the ex-situ polished SmB6 single crystal
is surprisingly thin, about 1 nm only.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Long-range interactions in the effective low energy Hamiltonian of Sr2IrO4: a core level resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study
We have investigated the electronic structure of Sr2IrO4 using core level
resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. The experimental spectra can be well
reproduced using ab initio density functional theory based multiplet ligand
field theory calculations, thereby validating these calculations. We found that
the low-energy, effective Ir t2g orbitals are practically degenerate in energy.
We uncovered that covalency in Sr2IrO4, and generally in iridates, is very
large with substantial oxygen ligand hole character in the Ir t2g Wannier
orbitals. This has far reaching consequences, as not only the onsite
crystal-field energies are determined by the long range crystal-structure, but,
more significantly, magnetic exchange interactions will have long range
distance dependent anisotropies in the spin direction. These findings set
constraints and show pathways for the design of d^5 materials that can host
compass-like magnetic interactions
Orbital-assisted metal-insulator transition in VO
We found direct experimental evidence for an orbital switching in the V 3d
states across the metal-insulator transition in VO. We have used
soft-x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the V edges as a sensitive
local probe, and have determined quantitatively the orbital polarizations.
These results strongly suggest that, in going from the metallic to the
insulating state, the orbital occupation changes in a manner that charge
fluctuations and effective band widths are reduced, that the system becomes
more 1-dimensional and more susceptible to a Peierls-like transition, and that
the required massive orbital switching can only be made if the system is close
to a Mott insulating regime
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