Charge transfer gap for T′-RE2CuO4 and T-La2CuO4 as estimated from Madelung potential calculations

Abstract

T′-RE2CuO4 (RE: rare-earth element), after appropriate “reduction”, has fairly high conductivity and also exhibits clear Fermi edge in photoemission spectroscopy. To clarify the origin of conductivity in the T′ mother compounds, we evaluated the unscreened charge-transfer gap (Δ0) for T′-RE2CuO4 and T-La2CuO4. The Δ0 value for T′-compounds almost linearly decreases with increasing the ionic radius of RE from 12.24eV for T′-Tm2CuO4 to 9.90eV for T′-La2CuO4. The results qualitatively explain metallic conductivity in T′-RE2CuO4 for large RE.