Low energy electronic spectroscopy of an infinite-layer cuprate: a resonant inelastic X-ray scattering study of CaCuO2

We report the results of Oxygen K-edge soft X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy that was performed on an infinite-layer insulating cuprate thin film CaCuO2 Experimentally obtained spectra arc consistent with local density approximation calculations X-ray absorption spectra show a close resemblance to spectra obtained from homologous single crystal cuprates In addition to d-d excitations. X-ray emission spectra reveal the presence of Zhang-Rice singlet states in the infinite-layer CuO2 planes The question of whether the Zhang-Rice singlet features are masked by the O 2p main-band is addressed. it is possible to quantify the position of the Zhang-Rice singlet using emission intensity profiles X-ray emission is demonstrated as a tool for understanding CuO2 planar electronic correlation in the prototypical infinite-layer The energy difference, 2 0 eV, between the oxygen main-band and the Zhang-Rice singlet band is found to match values obtained theoretically using established planar electronic correlation parameters.