Charge-Transfer Analysis of 2p3d Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering of Cobalt Sulfide and Halides

[Image: see text] We show that with 2p3d resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) we can accurately determine the charge-transfer parameters of CoF(2), CoCl(2), CoBr(2), and CoS. The 160 meV resolution RIXS results are compared with charge-transfer multiplet calculations. The improved resolution and the direct observation of the crystal field and charge-transfer excitations allow the determination of more accurate parameters than could be derived from X-ray absorption and X-ray photoemission, both limited in resolution by their lifetime broadening. We derive the crystal field and charge-transfer parameters of the Co(2+) ions, which provides the nature of the ground state of the Co(2+) ions with respect to symmetry and hybridization. In addition, the increased spectral resolution allows the more accurate determination of the atomic Slater integrals. The results show that the crystal field energy decreases with increasing ligand covalency. The L(2) edge RIXS spectra show that the intensity of the (Coster–Kronig induced) nonresonant X-ray emission is a measure of ligand covalency.