Nature of the apical and planar oxygen bonds in the Sr_{n+1}Ru_{n}O_{3n+1} family (n=1,2,3)

Abstract We investigate the electronic structure of the Sr n+ 1 Ru n O 3 n+ 1 family (n= 1, 2, 3) in the vicinity the Fermi level by means of polarization-dependent resonant O 1 s x-ray emission spectroscopy. Using both energy window and polarization analysis we disentangle the contribution of apical and planar oxygen, and compare it with first-principles calculations. Our results provide a new insight on the nature of the oxygen bonds and the role of Sr 3 d states.