Selective orbital imaging of excited states with x-ray spectroscopy: the example of $\alpha$-MnS.

Herein we show that non-resonant inelastic x-ray scattering involving an score level is a powerful spectroscopic method to characterize the excited states of transition metal compounds. The spherical charge distribution of the score hole allows the orientational dependence of the intensities of the various spectral features to produce a spatial charge image of the associated multiplet states in a straightforward manner, thereby...