Absorption resonances in the 2p threshold of manganese atoms

The soft X-ray absorption spectrum of atomic manganese (Z=25) at the L threshold is presented. The experimental spectrum is compared to Hartree-Fock (HF) calculations of the 2p to 3d dipole excitations, to previously published spectra of solid Mn and of manganese impurities in Cu and Ag obtained by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and to the soft X-ray absorption spectrum (XAS) of MnF 2 . It is shown that the atomic 2p absorption spectrum can be well described by a single configuration HF calculation in intermediate coupling and that the main features at the 2p absorption threshold of solid Mn, the manganese impurity systems and MnF 2 are of atomic origin.