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arXiv · 1212.0112

Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering as a Probe of the Phase and Excitations of the Order Parameter of Superconductors

Pasquale Marra·Steffen Sykora·Krzysztof Wohlfeld·Jeroen van den Brink
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Abstract

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.

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Pasquale Marra, Steffen Sykora, Krzysztof Wohlfeld, Jeroen van den Brink. 2012-12-01. Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering as a Probe of the Phase and Excitations of the Order Parameter of Superconductors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.110.117005

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