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We report an experimental study of the magnetic properties of infinite-layer Nd1-xSrxNiO2 thin films by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at Ni L3,2 and Nd M5,4 edges. We show that at low temperatures the out-of-plane component of the Ni1+ spin-moment is characterized by a rapid increase for magnetic fields below 1T , followed by a slower linear increase reaching a spin-moment value of 0.25uB/Ni at 9T in the case of superconducting Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2. On the other hand, the Nd M5,4 XMCD shows a clear paramagnetic behaviour, which make both Ni- and Nd-spin-sublattices fully uncorrelated.The magnetic field and temperature dependencies of the Ni L3,2 XMCD data can be explained by assuming an out-of-plane canting of the strongly in-plane anti-ferromagnetic ordered Ni1+ spins. A symmetry lowering of the NiO2 planes observed via four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy, triggering a DMI, can be responsible of the proposed Ni1+ spin-canting at zero-field. The resulting out-of-plane weak-ferromagnetic coupling under magnetic field explains the relatively large spin-moment and its magnetic field and temperature dependence.

A supposedly nonmagnetic 5d$^1$ double perosvkite oxide is investigated by a combination of spectroscopic and theoretical methods, namely resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, magnetic circular dichroism, and multiplet ligand field calculations. We found that the large spin-orbit coupling admixes the 5d $t_{2g}$ and $e_g$ orbitals, covalency raises the 5d population well above the nominal value, and the local symmetry is lower than $O_h$. The obtained electronic interactions account for the finite magnetic moment of Os in this compound and, in general, of 5d$^1$ ions. Our results provide direct evidence of elusive Jahn-Teller distortions, hinting at a strong electron-lattice coupling.

The universality of the strange metal phase in many quantum materials is often attributed to the presence of a quantum critical point (QCP), a zero-temperature phase transition ruled by quantum fluctuations. In cuprates, where superconductivity hinders direct QCP observation, indirect evidence comes from the identification of fluctuations compatible with the strange metal phase. Here we show that the recently discovered charge density fluctuations (CDF) possess the right properties to be associated to a quantum phase transition. Using resonant x-ray scattering, we studied the CDF in two families of cuprate superconductors across a wide doping range (up to $p$=0.22). At $p^*\approx$0.19, the putative QCP, the CDF intensity peaks, and the characteristic energy $\Delta$ is minimum, marking a wedge-shaped region in the phase diagram indicative of a quantum critical behavior, albeit with anomalies. These findings strengthen the role of charge order in explaining strange metal phenomenology and provide insights into high-temperature superconductivity., Comment: 36 pages, 4 figures, 9 supplementary figures

Superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates holds exciting analogies with that of cuprates, with similar structures and $3d$-electron count. Using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) we studied electronic and magnetic excitations and charge density correlations in Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$NiO$_2$ thin films with and without an SrTiO$_3$ capping layer. We observe dispersing magnons only in the capped samples, progressively dampened at higher doping. In addition, we detect an elastic resonant scattering peak in the uncapped $x=0$ compound at wave vector (1/3,0), remindful of the charge order signal in hole doped cuprates. The peak weakens at $x=0.05$ and disappears in the superconducting $x=0.20$ film. The uncapped samples also present a higher degree of Ni$3d$-Nd$5d$ hybridization and a smaller anisotropy of the Ni$3d$ occupation with respect to the capped samples. The role of the capping on the possible hydrogen incorporation or on other mechanisms responsible for the electronic reconstruction far from the interface remains to be understood.

Multi-orbital physics in quasi-two-dimensional electron gases (q2DEGs) triggers unique phenomena not observed in bulk materials, such as unconventional superconductivity and magnetism. Here, we investigate the mechanism of orbital selective switching of the spin-polarization in the oxide q2DEG formed at the (001) interface between the LaAlO$_{3}$, EuTiO$_{3}$ and SrTiO$_{3}$ band insulators. By using density functional theory calculations, transport, magnetic and x-ray spectroscopy measurements, we find that the filling of titanium-bands with 3d$_{xz,yz}$ orbital character in the EuTiO3 layer and at the interface with SrTiO$_{3}$ induces an antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic switching of the exchange interaction between Eu-4f$^{7}$ magnetic moments. The results explain the observation of the carrier density dependent ferromagnetic correlations and anomalous Hall effect in this q2DEG, and demonstrate how combined theoretical and experimental approaches can lead to a deeper understanding of novel electronic phases and serve as a guide for the materials design for advanced electronic applications.

The normal state of optimally doped cuprates is dominated by the "strange metal" phase that shows a linear temperature ($T$) dependence of the resistivity persisting down to the lowest $T$. For underdoped cuprates this behavior is lost below the pseudogap temperature $T^*$, where Charge Density Waves (CDW) together with other intertwined local orders characterize the ground state. Here we show that the $T$-linear resistivity of highly strained, ultrathin and underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ films is restored when the CDW amplitude, detected by Resonant Inelastic X-ray scattering, is suppressed. This observation points towards an intimate connection between the onset of CDW and the departure from $T$-linear resistivity in underdoped cuprates. Our results illustrate the potential of using strain control to manipulate the ground state of quantum materials.

The discovery of enhanced superconductivity (SC) in FeSe films grown on SrTiO3 (FeSe/STO) has revitalized the field of Fe-based superconductors. In the ultrathin limit, the superconducting transition temperature Tc is increased by almost an order of magnitude, raising new questions on the pairing mechanism. As in other unconventional superconductors, antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations have been proposed as a candidate to mediate SC in this system. Thus, it is essential to study the evolution of the spin dynamics of FeSe in the ultrathin limit to elucidate their relationship with superconductivity. Here, we investigate and compare the spin excitations in bulk and monolayer FeSe grown on STO using high-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) and quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations. Despite the absence of long-range magnetic order, bulk FeSe displays dispersive magnetic excitations reminiscent of other Fe-pnictides. Conversely, the spin excitations in FeSe/STO are gapped, dispersionless, and significantly hardened relative to the bulk counterpart. By comparing our RIXS results with simulations of a bilayer Hubbard model, we connect the evolution of the spin excitations to the Fermiology of the two systems. The present study reveals a remarkable reconfiguration of spin excitations in FeSe/STO, which is essential to understand the role of spin fluctuations in the pairing mechanism.

Although charge density waves (CDWs) are omnipresent in cuprate high-temperature superconductors, they occur at significantly different wavevectors, confounding efforts to understand their formation mechanism. Here, we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to investigate the doping- and temperature-dependent CDW evolution in La2-xBaxCuO4 (x=0.115-0.155). We discovered that the CDW develops in two stages with decreasing temperature. A precursor CDW with quasi-commensurate wavevector emerges first at high-temperature. This doping-independent precursor CDW correlation originates from the CDW phase mode coupled with a phonon and "seeds" the low-temperature CDW with strongly doping dependent wavevector. Our observation reveals the precursor CDW and its phase mode as the building blocks of the highly intertwined electronic ground state in the cuprates., Comment: In press at Physical Review X; 11 pages, 6 figures

Besides the mechanism responsible for high critical temperature superconductivity, the grand unresolved issue of the cuprates is the occurrence of a strange metallic state above the so-called pseudogap temperature $T^*$. Even though such state has been successfully described within a phenomenological scheme, the so-called Marginal Fermi-Liquid theory, a microscopic explanation is still missing. However, recent resonant X-ray scattering experiments identified a new class of charge density fluctuations characterized by low characteristic energies and short correlation lengths, which are related to the well-known charge density waves. These fluctuations are present over a wide region of the temperature-vs-doping phase diagram and extend well above $T^*$. Here we investigate the consequences of charge density fluctuations on the electron and transport properties and find that they can explain the strange metal phenomenology. Therefore, charge density fluctuations are likely the long-sought microscopic mechanism underlying the peculiarities of the metallic state of cuprates., Comment: 18 pages including Supplementary Informations, 10 figures

High resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) has proven particularly effective in the determination of crystal field and spin excitations in cuprates. Its strength lies in the large Cu $L_{3}$ resonance and in the fact that the scattering cross section follows quite closely the single-ion model predictions, both in the insulating parent compounds and in the superconducting doped materials. However, the spectra become increasingly broader with (hole) doping, hence resolving and assigning spectral features has proven challenging even with the highest energy resolution experimentally achievable. Here we have overcome this limitation by measuring the complete polarization dependence of the RIXS spectra as function of momentum transfer and doping in thin films of NdBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-\delta}$. Besides confirming the previous assignment of $dd$ and spin excitations (magnon, bimagnon) in the antiferromagnetic insulating parent compound, we unequivocally single out the actual spin-flip contribution at all dopings. We also demonstrate that the softening of $dd$ excitations is mainly attributed to the shift of the $xy$ peak to lower energy loss. These results provide a definitive assessment of the RIXS spectra of cuprates and demonstrate that RIXS measurements with full polarization control are practically feasible and highly informative., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

High temperature cuprate superconductors consist of stacked CuO2 planes, with primarily two dimensional electronic band structures and magnetic excitations, while superconducting coherence is three dimensional. This dichotomy highlights the importance of out-of-plane charge dynamics, believed to be incoherent in the normal state, yet lacking a comprehensive characterization in energy-momentum space. Here, we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) with polarization analysis to uncover the pure charge character of a recently discovered collective mode in electron-doped cuprates. This mode disperses along both the in- and, importantly, out-of-plane directions, revealing its three dimensional nature. The periodicity of the out-of-plane dispersion corresponds to the CuO2 plane distance rather than the crystallographic c-axis lattice constant, suggesting that the interplane Coulomb interaction drives the coherent out-of-plane charge dynamics. The observed properties are hallmarks of the long-sought acoustic plasmon, predicted for layered systems and argued to play a substantial role in mediating high temperature superconductivity., Comment: This is the version of first submission. The revised manuscript according to peer reviews is now accepted by Nature and will be published online on 31st Oct., 2018

Charge density waves are a common occurrence in all families of high critical temperature superconducting cuprates. Although consistently observed in the underdoped region of the phase diagram and at relatively low temperatures, it is still unclear to what extent they influence the unusual properties of these systems. Using resonant x-ray scattering we carefully determined the temperature dependence of charge density modulations in (Y,Nd)Ba$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-{\delta}}$ for three doping levels. We discovered short-range dynamical charge density fluctuations besides the previously known quasi-critical charge density waves. They persist up to well above the pseudogap temperature T*, are characterized by energies of few meV and pervade a large area of the phase diagram, so that they can play a key role in shaping the peculiar normal-state properties of cuprates., Comment: 34 pages, 4 figures, 11 supplementary figures

Using Cu-$L_3$ edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) we measured the dispersion and damping of spin excitations (magnons and paramagnons) in the high-$T_\mathrm{c}$ superconductor (Bi,Pb)$_{2}$(Sr,La)$_{2}$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ (Bi2201), for a large doping range across the phase diagram ($0.03\lesssim p\lesssim0.21$). Selected measurements with full polarization analysis unambiguously demonstrate the spin-flip character of these excitations, even in the overdoped sample. We find that the undamped frequencies increase slightly with doping for all accessible momenta, while the damping grows rapidly, faster in the (0,0)$\rightarrow$(0.5,0.5) nodal direction than in the (0,0)$\rightarrow$(0.5,0) antinodal direction. We compare the experimental results to numerically exact determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) calculations that provide the spin dynamical structure factor $S(\textbf{Q},\omega)$ of the three-band Hubbard model. The theory reproduces well the momentum and doping dependence of the dispersions and spectral weights of magnetic excitations. These results provide compelling evidence that paramagnons, although increasingly damped, persist across the superconducting dome of the cuprate phase diagram; this implies that long range antiferromagnetic correlations are quickly washed away, while short range magnetic interactions are little affected by doping., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures

We used x-ray absorption spectroscopy to study the orbital symmetry and the energy band splitting of (111) LaAlO${_3}$/SrTiO${_3}$ and LaAlO${_3}$/EuTiO${_3}$/SrTiO${_3}$ heterostructures, hosting a quasi two-dimensional electron system (q2DES), and of a Ti-terminated (111) SrTiO${_3}$ single crystal, also known to form a q2DES at its surface. We demonstrate that the bulk tetragonal Ti-3d D${_4}$${_h}$ crystal field is turned into trigonal D${_3}$${_d}$ crystal field in all cases. The symmetry adapted a${_1}$${_g}$ and e${^\pi_g}$ orbitals are non-degenerate in energy and their splitting, \Delta, is positive at the bare STO surface but negative in the heterostructures, where the a${_1}$${_g}$ orbital is lowest in energy. These results demonstrate that the interfacial symmetry breaking induced by epitaxial engineering of oxide interfaces has a dramatic effect on their electronic properties, and it can be used to manipulate the ground state of the q2DES., Comment: 6 pages article, plus 5 pages supplementary information

The magnetic properties of rare earth compounds are usually well captured by assuming a fully localized f shell and only considering the Hund's rule ground state multiplet split by a crystal electrical field (CEF). Currently, the standard technique for probing CEF excitations in lanthanides is inelastic neutron scattering. Here we show that with the recent leap in energy resolution, resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering has become a serious alternative for looking at CEF excitations with some distinct advantages compared to INS. As an example we study the CEF scheme in CeRh2Si2, a system that has been intensely studied for more than two decades now but for which no consensus has been reached yet as to its CEF scheme. We used two new features that have only become available very recently in RIXS, high energy resolution of about 30 meV as well as polarization analysis in the scattered beam, to find a unique CEF description for CeRh2Si2. The result agrees well with previous INS and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Due to its strong resonant character, RIXS is applicable to very small samples, presents very high cross sections for all lanthanides, and further benefits from the very weak coupling to phonon excitation. The rapid progress in energy resolution of RIXS spectrometers is making this technique increasingly attractive for the investigation of the CEF scheme in lanthanides.

Spin excitations in the overdoped high temperature superconductors Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ and (Bi,Pb)$_2$(Sr,La)$_{2}$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ were investigated by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) as functions of doping and detuning of the incoming photon energy above the Cu-$L_3$ absorption peak. The RIXS spectra at optimal doping are dominated by a paramagnon feature with peak energy independent of photon energy, similar to prior results on underdoped cuprates. Beyond optimal doping, the RIXS data indicate a sharp crossover to a regime with a strong contribution from incoherent particle/hole excitations whose maximum shows a fluorescence-like shift upon detuning. The spectra of both compound families are closely similar, and their salient features are reproduced by exact-diagonalization calculations of the single-band Hubbard model on a finite cluster. The results are discussed in the light of recent transport experiments indicating a quantum phase transition near optimal doping., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Physical Review Letters

Charge modulations are considered as a leading competitor of high-temperature superconductivity in the underdoped cuprates, and their relationship to Fermi surface reconstructions and to the pseudogap state is an important subject of current research. Overdoped cuprates, on the other hand, are widely regarded as conventional Fermi liquids without collective electronic order. For the overdoped (Bi,Pb)2.12Sr1.88CuO6+{\delta} (Bi2201) high-temperature superconductor, here we report resonant x-ray scattering measurements revealing incommensurate charge order reflections, with correlation lengths of 40-60 lattice units, that persist up to at least 250K. Charge order is markedly more robust in the overdoped than underdoped regime but the incommensurate wave vectors follow a common trend; moreover it coexists with a single, unreconstructed Fermi surface, without pseudogap or nesting features, as determined from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. This re-entrant charge order is reproduced by model calculations that consider a strong van Hove singularity within a Fermi liquid framework., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures

Although all superconducting cuprates display charge-ordering tendencies, their low-temperature properties are distinct, impeding efforts to understand the phenomena within a single conceptual framework. While some systems exhibit stripes of charge and spin, with a locked periodicity, others host charge density waves (CDWs) without any obviously related spin order. Here we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) to follow the evolution of charge correlations in the canonical stripe ordered cuprate La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_{4}$ (LBCO~$1/8$) across its ordering transition. We find that high-temperature charge correlations are unlocked from the wavevector of the spin correlations, signaling analogies to CDW phases in various other cuprates. This indicates that stripe order at low temperatures is stabilized by the coupling of otherwise independent charge and spin density waves, with important implications for the relation between charge and spin correlations in the cuprates., Comment: Accepted in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences; 8 pages, 4 figures

Charge order in underdoped and optimally doped high-$T_\mathrm{c}$ superconductors Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2-x}$La$_x$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ (Bi2201) is investigated by Cu $L_3$ edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). We have directly observed charge density modulation in the optimally doped Bi2201 at momentum transfer $Q_{\|} \simeq 0.23$ rlu, with smaller intensity and correlation length with respect to the underdoped sample. This demonstrates that short-range charge order in Bi2201 persists up to optimal doping, as in other hole-doped cuprates. We explored the nodal (diagonal) direction and found no charge order peak, confirming that charge order modulates only along the Cu-O bond directions. We measured the out-of-plane dependence of charge order, finding a flat response and no maxima at half integer \emph{L} values. This suggests there is no out-of-plane phase correlation in single layer Bi2201, at variance from YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ and La$_{2-x}$(Ba,Sr)$_x$CuO$_4$. Combining our results with data from the literature we assess that charge order in Bi2201 exists in a large doping range across the phase diagram, i.e. $0.07 \lesssim p \lesssim 0.16$, demonstrating thereby that it is intimately entangled with the antiferromagnetic background, the pseudogap and superconductivity., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

In high Tc superconductors the magnetic and electronic properties are determined by the probability that valence electrons virtually jump from site to site in the CuO2 planes, a mechanism opposed by on-site Coulomb repulsion and favored by hopping integrals. The spatial extent of the latter is related to transport properties, including superconductivity, and to the dispersion relation of spin excitations (magnons). Here, for three antiferromagnetic parent compounds (single-layer Bi2Sr0.99La1.1CuO6+delta, double-layer Nd1.2Ba1.8Cu3O6 and infinite-layer CaCuO2) differing by the number of apical atoms, we compare the magnetic spectra measured by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering over a significant portion of the reciprocal space and with unprecedented accuracy. We observe that the absence of apical oxygens increases the in-plane hopping range and, in CaCuO2, it leads to a genuine 3D exchange-bond network. These results establish a corresponding relation between the exchange interactions and the crystal structure, and provide fresh insight into the materials dependence of the superconducting transition temperature., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 Table, 42 references

The coupling between lattice and charge degrees of freedom in condensed matter materials is ubiquitous and can often result in interesting properties and ordered phases, including conventional superconductivity, charge density wave order, and metal-insulator transitions. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and both neutron and non-resonant x-ray scattering serve as effective probes for determining the behavior of appropriate, individual degrees of freedom -- the electronic structure and lattice excitation, or phonon dispersion, respectively. However, each provides less direct information about the mutual coupling between the degrees of freedom, usual through self-energy effects, which tend to renormalize and broaden spectral features precisely where the coupling is strong, impacting ones ability to quantitively characterize the coupling. Here we demonstrate that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, or RIXS, can be an effective tool to directly determine the relative strength and momentum dependence of the electron-phonon coupling in condensed matter systems. Using a diagrammatic approach for an 8-band model of copper oxides, we study the contributions from the lowest order diagrams to the full RIXS intensity for a realistic scattering geometry, accounting for matrix element effects in the scattering cross-section as well as the momentum dependence of the electron-phonon coupling vertex. A detailed examination of these maps offers a unique perspective into the characteristics of electron-phonon coupling, which complements both neutron and non-resonant x-ray scattering, as well as Raman and infrared conductivity., Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures

We have performed neutron inelastic scattering and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Cu-$L_3$ edge to study high-energy magnetic excitations at energy transfers of more than 100 meV for overdoped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ with $x=0.25$ ($T_c=15$ K) and $x=0.30$ (non-superconducting) using identical single crystal samples for the two techniques. From constant-energy slices of neutron scattering cross-sections, we have identified magnetic excitations up to ~250 meV for $x=0.25$. Although the width in the momentum direction is large, the peak positions along the (pi, pi) direction agree with the dispersion relation of the spin-wave in the non-doped La$_{2}$CuO$_{4}$ (LCO), which is consistent with the previous RIXS results of cuprate superconductors. Using RIXS at the Cu-$L_3$ edge, we have measured the dispersion relations of the so-called paramagnon mode along both (pi, pi) and (pi, 0) directions. Although in both directions the neutron and RIXS data connect with each other and the paramagnon along (pi, 0) agrees well with the LCO spin-wave dispersion, the paramagnon in the (pi, pi) direction probed by RIXS appears to be less dispersive and the excitation energy is lower than the spin-wave of LCO near (pi/2, pi/2). Thus, our results indicate consistency between neutron inelastic scattering and RIXS, and elucidate the entire magnetic excitation in the (pi, pi) direction by the complementary use of two probes. The polarization dependence of the RIXS profiles indicates that appreciable charge excitations exist in the same energy range of magnetic excitations, reflecting the itinerant character of the overdoped sample. A possible anisotropy in the charge excitation intensity might explain the apparent differences in the paramagnon dispersion in the (pi, pi) direction as detected by the X-ray scattering., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures

Magnetic excitations in the optimally doped high-$T_\mathrm{c}$ superconductor Bi$_{1.5}$Pb$_{0.55}$Sr$_{1.6}$La$_{0.4}$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ (OP-Bi2201, $T_\mathrm{c}\simeq 34$ K) are investigated by Cu $L_3$ edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), below and above the pseudogap opening temperature. At both temperatures the broad spectral distribution disperses along the (1,0) direction up to $\sim$350~meV at zone boundary, similarly to other hole-doped cuprates. However, above $\sim$0.22 reciprocal lattice units, we observe a concurrent intensity decrease for magnetic excitations and quasi-elastic signals with weak temperature dependence. This anomaly seems to indicate a coupling between magnetic, lattice and charge modes in this compound. We also compare the magnetic excitation spectra near the anti-nodal zone boundary in the single layer OP-Bi2201 and in the bi-layer optimally doped Bi$_{1.5}$Pb$_{0.6}$Sr$_{1.54}$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ (OP-Bi2212, $T_\mathrm{c}\simeq96$ K). The strong similarities in the paramagnon dispersion and in their energy at zone boundary indicate that the strength of the super-exchange interaction and the short-range magnetic correlation cannot be directly related to $T_\mathrm{c}$, not even within the same family of cuprates.

We used resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) with and without analysis of the scattered photon polarization, to study dispersive spin excitations in the high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6+x over a wide range of doping levels (0.1 < x < 1). The excitation profiles were carefully monitored as the incident photon energy was detuned from the resonant condition, and the spin excitation energy was found to be independent of detuning for all x. These findings demonstrate that the largest fraction of the spin-flip RIXS profiles in doped cuprates arises from magnetic collective modes, rather than from incoherent particle-hole excitations as recently suggested theoretically [Benjamin et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 247002(2014)]. Implications for the theoretical description of the electron system in the cuprates are discussed., Comment: Supplementary materials are available upon request

Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) in the soft x-ray range is an element-specific energy-loss spectroscopy used to probe the electronic and magnetic excitations in strongly correlated solids. In the recent years, RIXS has been progressing very quickly in terms of energy resolution and understanding of the experimental results, but the interpretation of spectra could further improve, sometimes decisively, from a full knowledge of the polarization of incident and scattered photons. Here we present the first implementation, in a high resolution RIXS spectrometer used to analyze the scattered radiation, of a device allowing the measurement of the degree of linear polarization. The system, based on a graded W/B4C multilayer mirror installed in proximity of the CCD detector, has been installed on the AXES spectrometer at the ESRF; it has been fully characterized and it has been used for a demonstration experiment at the Cu L3 edge on a high-Tc superconducting cuprate. The loss in efficiency suffered by the spectrometer equipped with this test facility was a factor 17.5. We propose also a more advanced version, suitable for a routine use on the next generation of RIXS spectrometers and with an overall efficiency up to 10%., Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures

We study resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) peaks corresponding to low energy particle-hole excited states of metallic FeTe and semi-metallic TiSe$_2$ for photon incident energy tuned near the $L_{3}$ absorption edge of Fe and Ti respectively. We show that the cross section amplitudes are well described within a renormalization group theory where the effect of the core electrons is captured by effective dielectric functions expressed in terms of the the atomic scattering parameters $f_1$ of Fe and Ti. This method can be used to extract the dynamical structure factor from experimental RIXS spectra in metallic systems., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Charge-density-wave (CDW) correlations within the quintessential CuO$_2$ planes have been argued to either cause [1] or compete with [2] the superconductivity in the cuprates, and they might furthermore drive the Fermi-surface reconstruction in high magnetic fields implied by quantum oscillation (QO) experiments for YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+{\delta}}$ (YBCO) [3] and HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+{\delta}}$ (Hg1201) [4]. Consequently, the observation of bulk CDW order in YBCO was a significant development [5,6,7]. Hg1201 features particularly high structural symmetry and recently has been demonstrated to exhibit Fermi-liquid charge transport in the relevant temperature-doping range of the phase diagram, whereas for YBCO and other cuprates this underlying property of the CuO$_2$ planes is partially or fully masked [8-10]. It therefore is imperative to establish if the pristine transport behavior of Hg1201 is compatible with CDW order. Here we investigate Hg1201 ($T_c$ = 72 K) via bulk Cu L-edge resonant X-ray scattering. We indeed observe CDW correlations in the absence of a magnetic field, although the correlations and competition with superconductivity are weaker than in YBCO. Interestingly, at the measured hole-doping level, both the short-range CDW and Fermi-liquid transport appear below the same temperature of about 200 K. Our result points to a unifying picture in which the CDW formation is preceded at the higher pseudogap temperature by $q$ = 0 magnetic order [11,12] and the build-up of significant dynamic antiferromagnetic correlations [13]. Furthermore, the smaller CDW modulation wave vector observed for Hg1201 is consistent with the larger electron pocket implied by both QO [4] and Hall-effect [14] measurements, which suggests that CDW correlations are indeed responsible for the low-temperature QO phenomenon.

The evolution of electronic (spin and charge) excitations upon carrier doping is an extremely important issue in superconducting layered cuprates and the knowledge of its asymmetry between electron- and hole-dopings is still fragmentary. Here we combine x-ray and neutron inelastic scattering measurements to track the doping dependence of both spin and charge excitations in electron-doped materials. Copper L3 resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra show that magnetic excitations shift to higher energy upon doping. Their dispersion becomes steeper near the magnetic zone center and deeply mix with charge excitations, indicating that electrons acquire a highly itinerant character in the doped metallic state. Moreover, above the magnetic excitations, an additional dispersing feature is observed near the {\Gamma}-point, and we ascribe it to particle-hole charge excitations. These properties are in stark contrast with the more localized spin-excitations (paramagnons) recently observed in hole-doped compounds even at high doping-levels., Comment: 20 pages

Bulk charge density modulations, recently observed in high critical-temperature ($T_\mathrm{c}$) cuprate superconductors, coexist with the so-called pseudogap and compete with superconductivity. However, its direct observation has been limited to a narrow doping region in the underdoped regime. Using energy-resolved resonant x-ray scattering we have found evidence for such bulk charge modulations, or soft collective charge modes (soft CCMs), in optimally doped Bi$_{1.5}$Pb$_{0.6}$Sr$_{1.54}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+\delta}$ (Pb-Bi2212) around the summit of the superconducting dome with momentum transfer $q_{\parallel}\sim0.28$ reciprocal lattice units (r.l.u.) along the Cu-O bond direction. The signal is stronger at $T\simeq T_\mathrm{c}$ than at lower temperatures, thereby confirming a competition between soft CCMs and superconductivity. These results demonstrate that soft CCMs are not constrained to the underdoped regime, suggesting that soft CCMs appear across a large part of the phase diagram of cuprates and are intimately entangled with high-$T_\mathrm{c}$ superconductivity., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table

This report describes the scientific aims and potentials as well as the preliminary technical design of IRIDE, an innovative tool for multi-disciplinary investigations in a wide field of scientific, technological and industrial applications. IRIDE will be a high intensity 'particle factory', based on a combination of a high duty cycle radio-frequency superconducting electron linac and of high energy lasers. Conceived to provide unique research possibilities for particle physics, for condensed matter physics, chemistry and material science, for structural biology and industrial applications, IRIDE will open completely new research possibilities and advance our knowledge in many branches of science and technology. IRIDE will contribute to open new avenues of discoveries and to address most important riddles: What does matter consist of? What is the structure of proteins that have a fundamental role in life processes? What can we learn from protein structure to improve the treatment of diseases and to design more efficient drugs? But also how does an electronic chip behave under the effect of radiations? How can the heat flow in a large heat exchanger be optimized? The scientific potential of IRIDE is far reaching and justifies the construction of such a large facility in Italy in synergy with the national research institutes and companies and in the framework of the European and international research. It will impact also on R&D work for ILC, FEL, and will be complementarity to other large scale accelerator projects. IRIDE is also intended to be realized in subsequent stages of development depending on the assigned priorities., Comment: 270 pages

We report on the observation of orbital excitations in YVO3 by means of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at energies across the vanadium L3 and oxygen K absorption edges. Due to the excellent experimental resolution we are able to resolve the intra-t2g excitations at 0.1-0.2 eV, 1.07 eV, and 1.28 eV, the lowest excitations from the t2g into the eg levels at 1.86 eV, and further excitations above 2.2 eV. For the intra-t2g excitations at 0.1-0.2 eV, the RIXS peaks show small shifts of the order of 10-40 meV as a function of temperature and of about 13-20 meV as a function of the transferred momentum q||a. We argue that the latter reflects a finite dispersion of the orbital excitations. For incident energies tuned to the oxygen K edge, RIXS is more sensitive to intersite excitations. We observe excitations across the Mott-Hubbard gap and find an additional feature at 0.4 eV which we attribute to two-orbiton scattering, i.e., an exchange of orbitals between adjacent sites. Altogether, these results indicate that both superexchange interactions and the coupling to the lattice are important for a quantitative understanding of the orbital excitations in YVO3., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

The electron-phonon interaction is a major factor influencing the competition between collective instabilities in correlated-electron materials, but its role in driving high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates remains poorly understood. We have used high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering to monitor low-energy phonons in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$ (superconducting $\bf T_c = 61$ K), which is close to a charge density wave (CDW) instability. Phonons in a narrow range of momentum space around the CDW ordering vector exhibit extremely large superconductivity-induced lineshape renormalizations. These results imply that the electron-phonon interaction has sufficient strength to generate various anomalies in electronic spectra, but does not contribute significantly to Cooper pairing. In addition, a quasi-elastic "central peak" due to CDW nanodomains is observed in a wide temperature range above and below $\bf T_c$, suggesting that the gradual onset of a spatially inhomogeneous CDW domain state with decreasing temperature is a generic feature of the underdoped cuprates.

Possible ferromagnetism induced in otherwise non-magnetic materials has been motivating intense research in complex oxide heterostructures. Here we show that a confined magnetism is realized at the interface between SrTiO3 and two insulating polar oxides, BiMnO3 and LaAlO3. By using polarization dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy, we find that in both cases the magnetic order is stabilized by a negative exchange interaction between the electrons transferred to the interface and local magnetic moments. These local magnetic moments are associated to Ti3+ ions at the interface itself for LaAlO3/SrTiO3 and to Mn3+ ions in the overlayer for BiMnO3/SrTiO3. In LaAlO3/SrTiO3 the induced magnetic moments are quenched by annealing in oxygen, suggesting a decisive role of oxygen vacancies in the stabilization of interfacial magnetism., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

The charge and spin correlations in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$ (LBCO 1/8) are studied using Cu $L_3$ edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The static charge order (CO) is observed at a wavevector of $(0.24,0)$ and its charge nature confirmed by measuring the dependence of this peak on the incident x-ray polarization. The paramagnon excitation in LBCO 1/8 is then measured as it disperses through the CO wavevector. Within the experimental uncertainty no changes are observed in the paramagnon due to the static CO, and the paramagnon seems to be similar to that measured in other cuprates, which have no static CO. Given that the stripe correlation modulates both the charge and spin degrees of freedom, it is likely that subtle changes do occur in the paramagnon due to CO. Consequently, we propose that future RIXS measurements, realized with higher energy resolution and sensitivity, should be performed to test for these effects., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

One of the most intensely studied scenarios of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) postulates pairing by exchange of magnetic excitations [1]. Indeed, such excitations have been observed up to around optimal doping in the cuprates [2-7]. In the heavily overdoped regime neutron scattering measurements indicate that magnetic excitations have effectively disappeared [8-10], and this was argued to cause the demise of HTS with overdoping [1, 8, 10]. Here we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), which is sensitive to complementary parts of reciprocal space, to measure the evolution of the magnetic excitations in La2-xSrxCuO4 across the entire phase diagram, from a strongly correlated insulator (x = 0) to a non-superconducting metal (x = 0.40). For x = 0, well-defined magnon excitations are observed [11]. These magnons broaden with doping, but they persist with a similar dispersion and comparable intensity all the way to the non-superconducting, heavily overdoped metallic phase. The destruction of HTS with overdoping is therefore caused neither by the general disappearance nor by the overall softening of magnetic excitations; other factor(s), such as the redistribution of spectral weight, must be considered., Comment: See Nature Materials http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat3723 for Advanced Online Publication

Using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Cu $L$-absorption edge, we have observed intense, dispersive spin excitations in highly overdoped Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ (superconducting $T_c =6$ K), a compound whose normal-state charge transport and thermodynamic properties have been studied extensively and shown to exhibit canonical Fermi-liquid behavior. Complementary RIXS experiments on slightly overdoped Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ ($T_c =89$ K) and on Y$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$Ba$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+\delta}$ compounds spanning a wide range of doping levels indicate that these excitations exhibit energies and energy-integrated spectral weights closely similar to those of antiferromagnetic magnons in undoped cuprates. The surprising coexistence of Fermi-liquid-like charge excitations and high-energy spin excitations reminiscent of antiferromagnetic insulators in highly overdoped compounds poses a challenge to current theoretical models of the cuprates.

We have used resonant x-ray scattering to determine the momentum dependent charge correlations in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.55}$ samples with highly ordered chain arrays of oxygen acceptors (ortho-II structure). The results reveal nearly critical, biaxial charge density wave (CDW) correlations at in-plane wave vectors (0.315, 0) and (0, 0.325). The corresponding scattering intensity exhibits a strong uniaxial anisotropy. The CDW amplitude and correlation length are enhanced as superconductivity is weakened by an external magnetic field. Analogous experiments were carried out on a YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$ crystal with a dilute concentration of spinless (Zn) impurities, which had earlier been shown to nucleate incommensurate magnetic order. Compared to pristine crystals with the same doping level, the CDW amplitude and correlation length were found to be strongly reduced. These results indicate a three-phase competition between spin-modulated, charge-modulated, and superconducting states in underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+\delta}$., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett

Recently, charge density wave (CDW) order in the CuO$_2$ planes of underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+\delta}$ was detected using resonant soft x-ray scattering. An important question remains: is the chain layer responsible for this charge ordering? Here, we explore the energy and polarization dependence of the resonant scattering intensity in a detwinned sample of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.75}$ with ortho-III oxygen ordering in the chain layer. We show that the ortho-III CDW order in the chains is distinct from the CDW order in the planes. The ortho-III structure gives rise to a commensurate superlattice reflection at $Q$=[0.33 0 $L$] whose energy and polarization dependence agrees with expectations for oxygen ordering and a spatial modulation of the Cu valence in the chains. Incommensurate peaks at [0.30 0 $L$] and [0 0.30 $L$] from the CDW order in the planes are shown to be distinct in $Q$ as well as their temperature, energy, and polarization dependence, and are thus unrelated to the structure of the chain layer. Moreover, the energy dependence of the CDW order in the planes is shown to result from a spatial modulation of energies of the Cu 2$p$ to 3$d_{x^2-y^2}$ transition, similar to stripe-ordered 214 cuprates., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

There are increasing indications that superconductivity competes with other orders in cuprate superconductors, but obtaining direct evidence with bulk-sensitive probes is challenging. We have used resonant soft x-ray scattering to identify two-dimensional charge fluctuations with an incommensurate periodicity of $\bf \sim 3.2$ lattice units in the copper-oxide planes of the superconductors (Y,Nd)Ba$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ with hole concentrations $0.09 \leq p \leq 0.13$ per planar Cu ion. The intensity and correlation length of the fluctuation signal increase strongly upon cooling down to the superconducting transition temperature, $T_c$; further cooling below $T_c$ abruptly reverses the divergence of the charge correlations. In combination with prior observations of a large gap in the spin excitation spectrum, these data indicate an incipient charge-density-wave instability that competes with superconductivity., Comment: to appear in Science

We present RIXS data at O K edge from La2-xSrxCuO4 vs. doping between x=0.10 and x=0.22 with attention to the magnetic excitations in the Mid-Infrared region. The sampling done by RIXS is the same as in the undoped cuprates provided the excitation is at the first pre-peak induced by doping. Note that this excitation energy is about 1.5 eV lower than that needed to see bimagnons in the parent compound. This approach allows the study of the upper region of the bimagnon continuum around 450 meV within about one third of the Brilluoin Zone around \Gamma. The results show the presence of damped bimagnons and of higher even order spin excitations with almost constant spectral weight at all the dopings explored here. The implications on high Tc studies are briefly addressed.

Polarization dependent vanadium L edge X-ray absorption spectra of BaVS$_3$ single crystals are measured in the four phases of the compound. The difference between signals with the polarization \textbf{E}$\perp$\textbf{c} and \textbf{E}$\parallel$\textbf{c} (linear dichroism) changes with temperature. Besides increasing intensity of one of the maxima, a new structure appears in the pre-edge region below the metal-insulator transition. More careful examination brings to light that the changes start already with pretransitional charge density wave fluctuations. Simple symmetry analysis suggests that the effect is related to rearrangements in $E_{g}$ and $A_{1g}$ states, and is compatible with the formation of four inequivalent V sites along the V-S chain., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures

We report the occurrence of superconductivity, with maximum Tc = 40 K, in superlattices (SLs) based on two insulating oxides, namely CaCuO2 and SrTiO3. In these (CaCuO2)n/(SrTiO3)m SLs, the CuO2 planes belong only to CaCuO2 block, which is an antiferromagnetic insulator. Superconductivity, confined within few unit cells at the CaCuO2/SrTiO3 interface, shows up only when the SLs are grown in a highly oxidizing atmosphere, because of extra oxygen ions entering at the interfaces. Evidence is reported that the hole doping of the CuO2 planes is obtained by charge transfer from the interface layers, which act as charge reservoir., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures

In the search for the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity, intense research has been focused on the evolution of the spin excitation spectrum upon doping from the antiferromagnetic insulating to the superconducting states of the cuprates. Because of technical limitations, the experimental investigation of doped cuprates has been largely focused on low-energy excitations in a small range of momentum space. Here we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to show that a large family of superconductors, encompassing underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$ and overdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7}$, exhibits damped spin excitations (paramagnons) with dispersions and spectral weights closely similar to those of magnons in undoped cuprates. %The results are in excellent agreement with the spin excitations obtained by exact diagonalization of the $\bf t-J$ Hamiltonian on finite-sized clusters. The comprehensive experimental description of this surprisingly simple spectrum permits quantitative tests of magnetic Cooper pairing models. A numerical solution of the Eliashberg equations for the magnetic spectrum of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7}$ reproduces its superconducting transition temperature within a factor of two, a level of agreement comparable to Eliashberg theories of conventional superconductors., Comment: Main text (11 pages, 4 figures) + supplementary information (4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table). An updated version will appear in Nature Physics

We assess the capabilities of magnetic Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) at the O $K$ edge in undoped cuprates by taking La_{2}CuO_{4} as a benchmark case, based on a series of RIXS measurements that we present here. By combining the experimental results with basic theory we point out the fingerprints of bimagnon in the O $K$ edge RIXS spectra. These are a dominant peak around 450 meV, the almost complete absence of dispersion both with $\pi$ and $\sigma$ polarization and the almost constant intensity vs. the transferred momentum with $\sigma$ polarization. This behavior is quite different from Cu $L_3$ edge RIXS giving a strongly dispersing bimagnon tending to zero at the center of the Brillouin zone. This is clearly shown by RIXS measurements at the Cu $L_3$ edge that we present. The Cu $L_3$ bimagnon spectra and those at Cu $K$ edge - both from the literature and from our data - however, have the same shape. These similarities and differences are understood in terms of different sampling of the bimagnon continuum. This panorama points out the unique possibilities offered by O $K$ RIXS in the study of magnetic excitations in cuprates near the center of the BZ.

We measured high resolution Cu $L_3$ edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) of the undoped cuprates La$_2$CuO$_4$, Sr$_2$CuO$_2$Cl$_2$, CaCuO$_2$ and NdBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_6$. The dominant spectral features were assigned to $dd$ excitations and we extensively studied their polarization and scattering geometry dependence. In a pure ionic picture, we calculated the theoretical cross sections for those excitations and used them to fit the experimental data with excellent agreement. By doing so, we were able to determine the energy and symmetry of Cu-3$d$ states for the four systems with unprecedented accuracy and confidence. The values of the effective parameters could be obtained for the single ion crystal field model but not for a simple two-dimensional cluster model. The firm experimental assessment of $dd$ excitation energies carries important consequences for the physics of high $T_c$ superconductors. On one hand, having found that the minimum energy of orbital excitation is always $\geq 1.4$ eV, i.e., well above the mid-infrared spectral range, leaves to magnetic excitations (up to 300 meV) a major role in Cooper pairing in cuprates. On the other hand, it has become possible to study quantitatively the effective influence of $dd$ excitations on the superconducting gap in cuprates., Comment: 22 pages, 11 figures, 1 table