Probing single magnon excitations in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ using O $K$-edge resonant inelastic X-ray scattering

Abstract

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at the $L$-edge of transition metal elements is now commonly used to probe single magnon excitations. Here we show that single magnon excitations can also be measured with RIXS at the $K$-edge of the surrounding ligand atoms when the center heavy metal elements have strong spin-orbit coupling. This is demonstrated with oxygen $K$-edge RIXS experiments on the perovskite Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$, where low energy peaks from single magnon excitations were observed. This new application of RIXS has excellent potential to be applied to a wide range of magnetic systems based on heavy elements, for which the $L$-edge RIXS energy resolutions in the hard X-ray region is usually poor.

References in corpus (12)

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• The importance of XY anisotropy in Sr2IrO4 revealed by magnetic critical scattering experiments
• Isotropic and Anisotropic Regimes of the Field-Dependent Spin Dynamics in Sr2IrO4: Raman Scattering Studies
• Dispersive Magnetic and Electronic Excitations in Iridate Perovskites Probed with Oxygen $K$-Edge Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering
• Novel spin-orbit coupling driven emergent states in iridate-based heterostructures
• Decoupling carrier concentration and electron-phonon coupling in oxide heterostructures observed with resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
• Emergence of spinons in layered trimer iridate Ba4Ir3O10
• Direct observation of oxygen polarization in Sr${}_2$IrO${}_4$ by O $K$-edge x-ray magnetic circular dichroism