Exploring Quantum Materials with Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

Understanding quantum materials -- solids in which quantum-mechanical interactions among constituent electrons yield a great variety of novel emergent phenomena -- is a forefront challenge in modern condensed matter physics. This goal has driven the invention and refinement of several experimental methods, which can spectroscopically determine the elementary excitations and correlation functions that determine material properties. This Perspectives article focuses on the future experimental and theoretical trends of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), which is a remarkably versatile and rapidly growing technique for probing different charge, lattice, spin, and orbital excitations in quantum materials. We provide a forward-looking introduction to RIXS and outline how this technique is poised to deepen our insight into the nature of quantum materials and their emergent electronic phenomena.
Comment: Review of RIXS to appear in Physical Review X as a Perspective