2017/09/08 by Jungho Kim, D. Casa, Kim, Jungho +13 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Crystallography and Radiation Phenomena #FOS: Physical sciences #Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) #Nuclear Physics and Applications #Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) #X-ray Spectroscopy and Fluorescence Analysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1709.02777
openalex publication_date 2017/09/08 · openalex created_date 2017/09/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Continued improvement of the energy resolution of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectrometers is crucial for fulfilling the potential of this technique in the study of electron dynamics in materials of fundamental and technological importance. In particular, RIXS is the only alternative tool to inelastic neutron scattering capable of providing fully momentum resolved information on dynamic spin structures of magnetic materials, but is limited to systems whose magnetic excitation energy scales are comparable to the energy resolution. The state-of-the-art spherical diced crystal analyzer optics provides energy resolution as good as 25 meV but has already reached its theoretical limit. Here, we demonstrate a novel sub-10meV RIXS spectrometer based on flat-crystal optics at the Ir-L3 absorption edge (11.215∼ keV) that achieves an analyzer energy resolution of 3.9∼meV, very close to the theoretical value of 3.7∼meV. In addition, the new spectrometer allows efficient polarization analysis without loss of energy resolution. The performance of the instrument is demonstrated using longitudinal acoustical and optical phonons in diamond, and magnon in Sr3Ir2O7. The novel sub-10∼meV RIXS spectrometer thus provides a window into magnetic materials with small energy scales.