Abstract
Soft x-ray spectroscopy is invaluable for gaining insight into quantum materials. However, it is typically conducted in a spatially averaging way, making it blind to inhomogeneity in samples. Here, we demonstrate how we couple imaging to x-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. Accordingly, we use a 2D detector and an off-axis Fresnel zone plate that images the sample in one spatial dimension and provides spectroscopic information in the other dimension. With our setup, we envision to enable a more detailed understanding of how the behavior of microscopic domains determines the functionality of quantum materials.
Highlights
Functionality in quantum materials is driven by a delicate balance of contributions from different interacting degrees of freedom: the electronic subsystem with different spin arrangements, orbital occupations or charge distributions, and the lattice contributions [1,2]
Important spatially varying textures have been observed in various quantum materials, such as in the high-Tc superconductor HgBa2CuO4+y [4], in the titanate compound Y0.63Ca0.37TiO3 [5], and in vanadium dioxide (VO2), the well-known material with an insulator–metal transition near room temperature [6,7,8,9]
We present a RIXS-imaging setup that allows measuring x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in partial fluorescence yield and RIXS with a spatial resolution down to 1.8 μm over a field of view of nearly 1 mm
Summary
Functionality in quantum materials is driven by a delicate balance of contributions from different interacting degrees of freedom: the electronic subsystem with different spin arrangements, orbital occupations or charge distributions, and the lattice contributions [1,2]. We present an advanced setup that uses a second transmission zone plate upstream of the sample and a substantially larger sample magnification to achieve a peak spatial resolution of 1.8 μm, and we explain how we are able to record spectral and spatial resolution within a single measurement This achievement paves the way to a more detailed understanding of the behavior of quantum materials on the microscale [19]. For the use of the RIXS-imaging setup, it is essential to understand the focal properties of zone plates and the behavior of spatial and energy resolution for energies that are in and out of focus on the detector. Applying the formulas in [18] yields a similar result
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