Soft x-ray resonant magnetic powder diffraction onPrNiO3

Abstract

We report on the first soft x-ray resonant powder diffraction experiments performed at the NiL2,3 edgesof PrNiO3. The temperature, polarization and energy dependence of the(1/2 0 1/2) reflection indicates a magnetic origin for the signal. This experiment demonstrates thatx-ray resonant magnetic powder diffraction can be relatively easily performed in the softx-ray regime due to the very large enhancement factors at the absorption edges. Suchexperiments allow us to extract important information on the electronic states of the dshell. Similar results can be anticipated from orbital reflections measured in a powder.