U 5$f$ crystal-field ground state of UO${}_2$ probed by directional dichroism in nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Abstract

Nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering (NIXS) has been performed on single crystals of UO${}_2$ to study the direction dependence of higher-order-multipole scattering from the uranium $O_{4,5}$ edges (90--110 eV). By comparing the experimental results with theoretical calculations the symmetry of the ground state is confirmed directly as the crystal-field (CF) ${\Gamma }_5$ triplet state within the $J$ = 4 manifold. The results also demonstrate that the directional dichroism of the NIXS spectra is sensitive to the CF strength and establish NIXS as a tool for probing CF interactions quantitatively.

arXiv commentpreprint

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Dual nature of 5$f$ electrons in the isostructural UM${}_2$Si${}_2$ family: from antiferro- to Pauli paramagnetism via hidden order
• Synchrotron Radiation Techniques and their Application to Actinide Materials
• Orientation of ground-state orbital in CeCoIn${}_5$ and CeRhIn${}_5$
• Fe substitution in URu${}_2$Si${}_2$: singlet magnetism in an extended Doniach phase diagram
• A composite ansatz for the calculation of dynamical structure factor
• High-resolution valence band RIXS at the actinide M${}_{4,5}$-edges