Diffraction-limited storage rings will allow for pushing the achievable energy resolution, signal intensity and the sampled spot size in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments to new limits. In this article the types of improved soft X-ray RIXS studies that will become possible with these instrumental improvements are envisioned.
The spectroscopic technique of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) will particularly profit from immensely improved brilliance of diffraction-limited storage rings (DLSRs). In RIXS one measures the intensities of excitations as a function of energy and momentum transfer. DLSRs will allow for pushing the achievable energy resolution, signal intensity and the sampled spot size to new limits. With RIXS one nowadays probes a broad range of electronic systems reaching from simple molecules to complex materials displaying phenomena like peculiar magnetism, two-dimensional electron gases, superconductivity, photovoltaic energy conversion and heterogeneous catalysis. In this article the types of improved RIXS studies that will become possible with X-ray beams from DLSRs are envisioned.