Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering as a probe of the phase and excitations of the order parameter of superconductors

The capability to probe the dispersion of elementary spin, charge, orbital, and lattice excitations has positioned resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the forefront of photon science. Here we develop the scattering theory for RIXS on superconductors, calculating its momentum-dependent scat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2013-03, Vol.110 (11), p.117005-117005, Article 117005
Main Authors: Marra, Pasquale, Sykora, Steffen, Wohlfeld, Krzysztof, van den Brink, Jeroen
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The capability to probe the dispersion of elementary spin, charge, orbital, and lattice excitations has positioned resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the forefront of photon science. Here we develop the scattering theory for RIXS on superconductors, calculating its momentum-dependent scattering amplitude. Considering superconductors with different pairing symmetries, we show that the low-energy scattering is strongly affected by the superconducting gap and coherence factors. This establishes RIXS as a tool to disentangle pairing symmetries and to probe the elementary excitations of unconventional superconductors.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.117005