Ligand field and interference effects in L-edge x-ray Raman scattering of MnF2 and CoF2

We present experimental results for x-ray absorption and resonant emission at the L-edge of the transition metal in MnF2 and CoF2. The emission data are corrected for self-absorption. The data are compared with calculations in both the free-ion approximation and with the effect of the ligand field of D-4h symmetry included. The results of the calculations take into account interference terms in the Kramers-Heisenberg expression. We obtain very good agreement between experiment and theory for both x-ray absorption and resonant emission in the two compounds. The inclusion of the ligand field is important to achieve such agreement. However, the results of the calculation that does not take into account the interference terms are in better agreement with experiment, indicating that the model used probably overestimates the importance of interference effects.