Resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy of multiferroic TbMnO3

Abstract

The Mn 3d valence states in single-crystalline TbMnO3 were probed using x-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES). The polarized Mn K-edge x-ray absorption spectra show a strong polarization dependence, particularly for the white line region, indicating the strong anisotropic Mn–O bonding within the ab plane in TbMnO3. The RXES data obtained at the Mn K edge clearly reveal that unoccupied Mn 3d states exhibit a relatively delocalized character, stemming from hybridization of the Mn 3d states with the neighboring Mn 4p orbitals. The authors demonstrated that resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy is able to characterize the degree of localization of the unoccupied states or hole carriers in manganites.