Spin-polarized surface electronic structure of Ta(110): Similarities and differences to W(110)

Abstract

Tantalum and tungsten, direct neighbors in the periodic table, exhibit a very similar electronic structure. Compared with tungsten, however, the bands of tantalum are less occupied due to the lack of one electron. As a consequence, an exceptional Dirac-cone-like surface state, observed below the Fermi level for W(110), may appear above the Fermi level for Ta(110). To prove this conjecture, we investigate the unoccupied surface electronic structure of Ta(110) by spin- and angle-resolved inverse photoemission and electronic-structure calculations. Surprisingly, our results do not show the expected Dirac-cone-like surface state. Instead, spin-polarized unoccupied surface bands are identified, which have no equivalent in W(110). These findings are explained by the difference in the energetic positions of the surface states relative to the bulk states for Ta(110) and W(110) caused by the different lattice constants.