Half-metallicity of Mn2VAl ferrimagnet revealed by resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering under magnetic field.

Detailed information on the electronic states of both V and Mn 3d electrons in the ferrimagnet Mn2VAl is obtained by the bulk sensitive resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (SX-RIXS) excited with the circularly polarized light under an external magnetic field for the first time. The results under the V L-edge excitation have revealed the negligible partial density of states (PDOS) of the V 3d states around the Fermi energy as well as their rather localized character. Under the Mn L-edge excitation, on the other hand, the spectra are dominated by fluorescence with clear magnetic circular dichroism with noticeable excitation photon energy dependence. Compared with the theoretical prediction of the RIXS spectra based on the density-functional-theory band structure calculation, an itinerant, spin-dependent character of the Mn 3d states and decays of the Mn 2p core states are confirmed in consistence with the half-metallicity of the Mn 3d states.