X-ray detected magnetic resonance: a unique probe of the precession dynamics of orbital magnetization components

X-ray Detected Magnetic Resonance (XDMR) is a novel spectroscopy in which X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism (XMCD) is used to probe the resonant precession of local magnetization components in a strong microwave pump field. We review the conceptual bases of XDMR and recast them in the general framework of the linear and nonlinear theories of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). Emphasis is laid on the information content of XDMR spectra which offer a unique opportunity to disentangle the precession dynamics of spin and orbital magnetization components at given absorbing sites. For the sake of illustration, we focus on selected examples in which marked differences were found between FMR and XDMR spectra simultaneously recorded on ferrimagnetically ordered iron garnets. With pumping capabilities extended up to sub-THz frequencies, high-field XDMR should allow us to probe the precession of orbital magnetization components in paramagnetic organometallic complexes with large zero-field splitting. Even more challenging, we suggest that XDMR spectra might be recorded on selected antiferromagnetic crystals for which orbital magnetism is most often ignored in the absence of any supporting experimental evidence.