High-resolution nonresonant x-ray Raman scattering study on rare earth phosphate nanoparticles

Simo Huotari*, Edlira Suljoti, Christoph J. Sahle, Stephanie Raedel, Giulio Monaco, Frank M. F. de Groot

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We report high-resolution x-ray Raman scattering studies of high-order multipole spectra of rare earth 4d -> 4f excitations (the N-4,N-5 absorption edge) in nanoparticles of the phosphates LaPO4, CePO4, PrPO4, and NdPO4. We also present corresponding data for La 5p -> 5d excitations (the O-2,O-3 edge) in LaPO4. The results are compared with those from calculations by atomic multiplet theory and for the dipole contribution to the La 4d -> 4f transition from a calculation using time-dependent density functional theory (TDLDA). Agreement with the atomic multiplet calculations for the highorder multiplet spectra is remarkable in the case of the N-4,N-5 spectra. In contrast, we find that the shallow O-2,O-3 semicore excitations in LaPO4 manifest a relatively broad band and an apparent quenching of 5p spin-orbit splitting. The more sophisticated TDLDA, which has earlier been found to explain dipolar spectra well in Ba compounds, is less satisfactory here in the case of La.

Original languageEnglish
Article number043041
Number of pages10
JournalNew Journal of Physics
Volume17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Apr 2015

Keywords

  • inelastic x-ray scattering
  • rare earths
  • lanthanides
  • non-dipole
  • x-ray Raman scattering
  • EXCITATIONS
  • TRANSITIONS
  • SYSTEMS
  • WATER

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