Probing Electronic Correlations in Actinide Materials Using Multipolar Transitions

TL;DR

This study uses nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering to explore electronic correlations in actinide materials, revealing complex multipolar features sensitive to electronic environment and interactions, advancing understanding of 5f electron behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed spectroscopic analysis of actinide compounds highlighting the role of multipolar transitions and Coulomb screening in electronic structure understanding.

Findings

Identification of high-multipole features in actinides

Demonstration of sensitivity to electronic environment

Requirement of high Coulomb screening for theory-experiment agreement

Abstract

We report nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering from the semi-core 5d levels of several actinide compounds. Dipole-forbidden, high-multipole features form a rich bound-state spectrum dependent on valence electron configuration and spin-orbit and Coulomb interactions. Cross-material comparisons, together with the anomalously high Coulomb screening required for agreement between atomic multiplet theory and experiment, demonstrate sensitivity to the neighboring electronic environment, such as is needed to address long-standing questions of electronic localization and bonding in 5f compounds.