Spin Projection of Empty Partial Density of States by Resonant X-ray Scattering (RXS): Application to Materials with Different Magnetic Ordering

We report the first experimental spin projections of empty partial density of states in antiferromagnetic NiO and CuO, paramagnetic MnO and in ferrimagnetic Dy3Fe5O12 by means of resonant X-ray scattering (RXS). Resolving resonantly scattered Kα1,2 , Kβ1,3 , Lα1 and L1 core line spectra into their spin-up and spin-down components the spin character of the dipole- and quadrupole-excited conduction band states can quantitatively be analyzed. Since the method employs spin conservation in the RXS process and local spin references, it needs neither circularly polarized radiation nor sample magnetization for measuring the spectra. Hence, antiferro- and paramagnetic materials can be investigated as well. In the paper, the basic idea of the novel method, its experimental realization and the data treatment are reported including the spectra decomposition into the spin-up and spin-down components by using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). New and unambiguous results will be presented providing the opportunity to verify experimentally the results of spin-dependent (LSDA+U) calculations. So we argue the new spectroscopy complements X-ray magnetic dichroism, which is silent for antiferro- and paramagnetic materials. In fact, the novel method gives insight into the spin polarization of conduction band states in correlated materials, independently on their magnetic ordering