Some notes on data analysis for nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Abstract

Nuclear Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (NRIXS) is a spectroscopy method to study atomic vibrations and dynamics, currently done with synchrotron radiation at a few high energy third generation facilities. It finds a wide range of applications in condensed matter physics, materials science, chemistry, biophysics, geosciences, and high-pressure researches. Many atomic dynamics and lattice thermodynamics information can be derived from NRIXS measurements. Phonon Density of States (DOS) characterizes lattice dynamics of a material and can be derived under the quasi-harmonic approximation. Combined with modeling and simulations, results from NRIXS can provide unique and clarifying insights into many fields of research. As for a spectroscopic technique, in order to be able to provide reliable information, close attention should be paid to many issues during experiments and data analysis afterwards. Here we discuss several issues relevant to its data analysis, namely, those of multiple sites, background treatments, and error estimates for some derived quantities.