Measurement of the Full XAFS Spectrum of MgO Using Nonresonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering

We present non-resonant inelastic x-ray scattering measurements (NRIXS) of the contribution of each initial state orbital in MgO to the dynamic structure factor. We find good agreement with previous x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements and with previous electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) measurements for the corresponding edges. We also find good agreement with ab initio calculations when the interaction between the core hole and the photoelectron is treated properly. These measurements demonstrates the flexibility of a new user facility dedicated to measurement of NRIXS from core-shell electrons, the lower energy resolution inelastic x-ray scattering (LERIX) spectrometer located at sector 20 PNC-XOR of the Advanced Photon Source. The LERIX user facility provides a bulk-sensitive alternative to, and in some cases extension of, soft x-ray XAFS measurements