Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering investigation of Hund's and spin-orbit coupling in $5d^2$ double perovskites

Abstract: $\mathrm{B}$ site ordered $5d^2$ double perovskites ($\mathrm{A_2BB'O_6,\ B'}=5d^2)$ display a remarkable range of physical properties upon variation of the chosen $\mathrm{B}$ and $\mathrm{B'}$ site ions. This sensitivity to chemical substitution reflects the delicate balance and profound impact of strong electronic correlation and spin-orbit coupling in such systems. We present rhenium $L_2$ and $L_3$ resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements of two such physically dissimilar materials, Mott-insultating $\mathrm{Ba_2YReO_6}$ and semiconducting $\mathrm{Sr_2CrReO_6}$. Despite these differences, our RIXS results reveal similar energy scales of Hund's ($J_H$) and spin-orbit coupling ($\lambda$) in the two materials, with both systems firmly in the intermediate Hund's coupling regime ($\mathcal{O}(J_H/\lambda)\sim 1$). However, there are clear differences in their RIXS spectra. The conductive character of $\mathrm{Sr_2CrReO_6}$ broadens and obfuscates the atomic transitions within an electron-hole continuum, while the insulating character of $\mathrm{Ba_2YReO_6}$ results in sharp atomic excitations. This contrast in their RIXS spectra despite their similar energy scales reflects a difference in the itinerancy-promoting hopping integral and illustrates the impact of the local crystal environment in double perovskites. Finally, $L_2$ and $L_3$ edge analyses of the atomic excitations in $\mathrm{Ba_2YReO_6}$ reveal that the energy scales of Hund's and spin-orbit coupling are in fact inverted compared to previously reported values. We present exact diagonalization calculations of the RIXS spectra at both edges which show good agreement with our results for new energy scales of $\lambda=0.290(5)$ eV and $J_H=0.38(2)$ eV ($J_H/\lambda=1.30(5)$).