We present Ru L3-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements of spin-orbit and d-d excitations in exfoliated nanolayers of the Kitaev spin-liquid candidate RuCl3. Whereas the spin-orbit excitations are independent of thickness, we observe a pronounced red-shift and broadening of the d-d excitations in layers with thickness below ∼7 nm. Aided by model calculations, we attribute these effects to distortions of the RuCl6 octahedra near the surface. Our study paves the way towards RIXS investigations of electronic excitations in various other 2D materials and heterostructures.
@article{arxiv.2303.05135,
title = {Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering from Electronic Excitations in $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ Nanolayers},
author = {Zichen Yang and Lichen Wang and Sourav Laha and Dong Zhao and Mingdi Luo and Achim Güth and Takashi Taniguchi and Kenji Watanabe and Bettina V. Lotsch and Jurgen H. Smet and Matteo Minola and Hlynur Gretarsson and Bernhard Keimer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.05135},
year = {2023}
}