A unique experimental end-station for correlative RIXS and XEOL spectroscopies under electric and magnetic fields at the SEXTANTS beamline

Since beginning 2020 the inelastic branch of the SEXTANTS beamline offers to the users a novel sample environment for performing resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments under electric and magnetic fields, MAGELEC. It consists of a sample holder equipped with 12 electrical contacts, which is combined with a compact quadrupolar magnet delivering a rotatable magnetic field with a maximum strength of 0.45 T. Thanks to its particular design the whole scattering plane is available for magnetic dichroism RIXS (RIXS-MD) experiments in a temperature range from 400 K down to 18 K. Compatible with MAGELEC, we have recently installed an optical system allowing to correlate RIXS(-MD) measurements with X-ray excited optical luminescence spectroscopy (XEOL). I will show the layout of this unique sample environment and the results obtained on ferromagnetic transition metal compounds, where RIXS spectra show an important magnetic dichroic contrast in the energy loss and/or fluorescence channel. I will present as well the XEOL setup we have conceived for the collection of the photoluminescent signal. I will show how these novel perspectives offered by inelastic branch the SEXTANTS beamline will promote fundamental research on magnetic materials through the possibility of tackling several kinds of open questions in the field of transition metal compound beyond the accuracy obtained by the widely used X-ray magnetic circular and/or linear magnetic dichroism.