X-ray natural circular dichroism in langasite crystal.

Optical activity in the X-ray range stems from the electric-dipole-electric-quadrupole interference terms mixing multipoles of opposite parity, and can be observed exclusively in systems with broken inversion symmetry. The gyration tensor formalism is used to describe the X-ray optical activity in langasite La3Ga5SiO14 crystal with the P321 space group. An experimental study of the X-ray natural circular dichroism (XNCD) near the Ga K-edge in La3Ga5SiO14 single crystal was performed at ESRF beamline ID12, both along and perpendicular to the crystal optical axis. The combination of the quantum mechanical calculations and high-quality experimental results has allowed us to separate the contributions into X-ray absorption and XNCD spectra of Ga atoms occupying three distinct Wyckoff positions.

The influence of antiferromagnetic spin cantings on the magnetic helix pitch in cubic helimagnets.

In cubic helimagnets MnSi and Cu2OSeO3with their nearly isotropic magnetic properties, the magnetic structure undergoes helical deformation, which is almost completely determined by the helicoid wavenumberk=D/J, where magnetization field stiffnessJis associated with isotropic spin exchange, andDis a pseudoscalar value characterizing the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction. Another magnetic feature of these crystals, also caused by the DM interactions, are antiferromagnetic spin cantings, similar to the ferromagnetic cantings responsible for the phenomenon of weak ferromagnetism. Here we show that cantings can strongly influence the helical order through the value of the parameterD. Changing the cantings in a strong magnetic field is predicted to affect the magnon spectrum of the crystals.

Weak antiferromagnetic ordering induced by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and pure magnetic reflections in MnSi-type crystals.

A symmetry analysis of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction in MnSi-type crystals reveals a nontrivial antiferromagnetic pattern of tilted Mn moments remaining even after an unwinding of the ground-state helix by a strong magnetic field. The remaining tilts are caused by that component of the DM vector which is perpendicular to the component responsible for helical spiraling; both components are evaluated and related to the atomic structure using a simple model. It is shown that the tilting should induce pure magnetic reflections 00ℓ(ℓ=2n+1) in neutron or x-ray magnetic scattering. In addition, the DM-induced antiferromagnetic ordering is important for the core structure of intrinsic defects, for the spectra of magnetic resonances, and generally for a better understanding of spin-orbit interaction in this type of magnetics.

Antiferromagnetic spin cantings as a driving force of ferroelectricity in multiferroic Cu2OSeO3.

Ferroelectric properties of cubic chiral magnet Cu2OSeO3 can emerge due to the spin noncollinearity induced by antiferromagnetic cantings. The cantings are the result of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and in many ways similar to the ferromagnetic cantings in weak ferromagnets. An expression for the local electric polarization is derived, including terms with gradients of magnetization [Formula: see text]. When averaged over the crystal the electric polarization has a non-vanishing part associated with the anisotropy of the crystal point group 23. In the framework of the microscopic theory, it is shown that both scalar and vector products of spins, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], can give contributions of the same order of magnitude into the electric polarization.

Polarization anisotropy of X-ray atomic factors and 'forbidden' resonant reflections.

Symmetry and physical aspects of 'forbidden' reflections excited by a local polarization anisotropy of the X-ray susceptibility are surveyed. Such reflections are observed near absorption edges where the anisotropy is caused by distortions of the atomic electronic states owing to interaction with neighbouring atoms. As a consequence, they allow for extracting nontrivial information about the resonant atom's local environment and their physical conditions. The unusual polarization properties of the considered reflections are helpful to distinguish them from other types of 'forbidden' reflections. When such reflections are excited, it is, for example, possible to determine not only the intrinsic anisotropy of an atomic form factor but also additional anisotropy induced by thermal motion, point defects and/or incommensurate modulations. Even the local ;chirality' of atoms in centrosymmetric crystals is accessible. Unsolved key problems and possible future developments are addressed.

Implications of the causality principle for ultra chiral metamaterials.

Chiral metamaterials - artificial subwavelength structures with broken mirror symmetry - demonstrate outstanding degree of optical chirality that exhibits sophisticated spectral behavior and can eventually reach extreme values. Based on the fundamental causality principle we show how one can unambiguously relate the metamaterial circular dichroism and optical activity by the generalized Kramers-Kronig relations. Contrary to the conventional relations, the generalized ones provide a unique opportunity of extracting information on material-dependent zeroes of transmission coefficient in the upper half plane of complex frequency. We illustrate the merit of the formulated relations by applying them to the observed ultra chiral optical transmission spectra of subwavelength arrays of chiral holes in silver films. Apart from the possibility of precise verification of experimental data, the relations enable resolving complex eigenfrequencies of metamaterial intrinsic modes and resonances.

Point-defect-induced forbidden reflections in resonant X-ray scattering.

Point defects in crystals cause displacements of neighbouring atoms and hence become the source of an additional anisotropy of the X-ray resonant scattering amplitude. This anisotropy can induce 'forbidden' Bragg reflections near absorption edges, called point-defect-induced (PDI) reflections, which are absent in non-resonant X-ray scattering and in resonant X-ray scattering by perfect crystals. The deformation of external electron shells is the physical reason for this phenomenon. Some examples of crystals are considered in which the PDI reflections could be observed.