The X-ray magnetic dichroism, the sum rule and spin fluctuations on the surface of manganite (LaPrCa) MnO3

Abstract

The problem of determining the magnitude of the atomic magnetic moments in compounds with rare-earth and transition elements using the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) is investigated. The standard sum rules approach usually gives the moment values by several times smaller than their bulk values obtained from the direct magnetic measurements. We attribute this to the strong spin fluctuations in the surface layer which actually formed the soft XMCD signal. A method of determining the value of the local magnetic moments in the presence of strong fluctuations is proposed. The magnetic interactions in La0.5Pr0.2Ca0.3MnO3 are investigated by x-ray absorption spectroscopy, XMCD and bulk magnetization measurements. The proposed procedure is used to determine the values of atomic magnetic moments of transition and rare-earth elements as well as net magnetization on the surface and in the bulk from experimental Mn L-2,L-3 and Pr M-4,M-5 XMCD spectra.