Electronic structure of RTX (R=Pr, Nd; T=Cu, Ag, Au; X=Ge, Sn) compounds

Abstract

Electronic structure of ternary RTX (R=Pr, Nd; T=Cu, Ag, Au; X=Ge, Sn) compounds was studied by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Core-levels and valence bands were investigated. The XPS valence bands are compared with the ones calculated using the spin-polarized tight binding linear muffin-tin orbital (TB LMTO) method. The obtained results indicate that the valence bands are mainly determined by Cu3d, Ag4d and Au5d bands. The spin–orbit splitting values Δ E LS determined from the XPS spectra of Pr and Nd 3d 5/2 and 3d 3/2 are equal to 20.5 eV for Pr-compounds and 22.5 eV for Nd-compounds. The analysis of these spectra on the basis of the Gunnarsson–Schönhammer model gives a hybridization of f-orbitals with the conduction band.