Low-energyd-dexcitations in MnO studied by resonant x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

Abstract

We measured the Mn ${\mathit{L}}_{\mathrm{\alpha },\mathrm{\beta }}$ x-ray fluorescence spectra of MnO excited by selected photon energies near the ${\mathit{L}}_{2,3}$ absorption edges. The resulting resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra probe low-lying electronic excited states, due to dd and charge-transfer excitations. Using a two-step model and a purely atomic approximation, we reproduce both energies and varying intensities of dd excitations relative to the electronic recombination peak. Our results show that strongly varying line shapes in resonant x-ray emission need not be due to channel interference effects. © 1996 The American Physical Society.