Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 208, 133-139 (2012)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2012-01614-y

Regular Article

Resonant soft X-ray scattering studies of multiferroic YMn₂O₅

¹ Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany
² Condensed Matter Physics and Material Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
³ Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany
⁴ Department of Applied Physics and Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC), University of Tokyo, Takeda Frontier Science Hall 202, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan

^a e-mail: s.partzsch@ifw-dresden.de

Received: 16 December 2011
Revised: 23 March 2012
Published online: 15 June 2012

Abstract

We performed soft X-ray resonant scattering at the MnL_2,3- and OK edges of YMn₂O₅. While the resonant intensity at the Mn L_2,3 edges reflects the magnetic order parameter, the resonant scattering at the O K edge is found to be directly related to the macroscopic ferroelectric polarization. The latter observation reveals the important role of the spin-dependent Mn-O hybridization for the multiferroicity of YMn₂O₅. We present details about how to obtain correct energy dependent lineshapes and discuss the origin of the resonant intensity at the O K edge.