Probing the Mn3+ sublattice in La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 by resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering at the Mn L2,3 edge

Resonant soft X-ray scattering spectra of a La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 thin film were measured at varying energies of the incident photon beam across Mn 2p thresholds. The data are analyzed within the framework of the Anderson impurity model and full multiplet theory. The scattering profiles of the film are reasonably well reproduced by model calculations for the Mn3+ system, in contrast to the absorption spectrum at the Mn L-2,L-3 edge for which the contribution of the Mn4+ sublattice is required to be taken into account. The obtained agreement between calculations and experiment indicates that in this case resonant inelastic scattering mainly probes the local electronic structure at the Mn3+ sites in the La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 film. In turn, Mn4+ sites mainly contribute to ordinary L-alpha,L-beta X-ray emission due to relaxations in the intermediate state of the spectroscopic process. Such a situation can occur when the system favors a phase separation rather than checkerboard charge ordering of Mn3+ and Mn4+ sites.