Magnetic Nature of the 500 meV peak in La2−xSrxCuO4 Observed with Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering at the Cu K-edge

We present a comprehensive study of the temperature and doping dependence of the 500 meV peak observed at q = ({pi},0) in resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments on La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4}. The intensity of this peak persists above the Neel temperature (T{sub N} = 320 K), but decreases gradually with increasing temperature, reaching zero at around T = 500 K. The peak energy decreases with temperature in close quantitative accord with the behavior of the two-magnon B{sub 1g} Raman peak in La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4} and, with suitable rescaling, agrees with the Raman peak shifts in EuBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 6} and K{sub 2}NiF{sub 4}. The overall dispersion of this excitation in the Brillouin zone is found to be in agreement with theoretical calculations for a two-magnon excitation. Upon doping, the peak intensity decreases analogous to the Raman mode intensity and appears to track the doping dependence of the spin-correlation length. Taken together, these observations strongly suggest that the 500 meV mode is magnetic in character and is likely a two-magnon excitation.