Study of the 4f and valence band density of states in rare-earth metals. II. Experiment and results

Abstract

For pt.I see ibid., vol.11, p.113 (1980). The 4f and valence states of all metallic rare earths have been studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the occupied part and bremsstrahlung isochromat spectroscopy (BIS) for the unoccupied part. It is found that the bandwidth increases from Gd to Lu, and that the valence band spectra are in fair agreement with APW calculations. The intensities of the 4f final-state multiplets are well described in terms of the coefficients of fractional parentage. There is a symmetry between the fn XPS and f14-n BIS spectra. The observed energies of the 4f excitations correspond to transitions to completely screened final states. These values enable one to predict the elements which are liable to interconfiguration fluctuation when their 4f levels are shifted to EF by the chemical environment or by compression. The large Coulomb correlation energies, U, which prevent the formation of 4f bands in these elements, are directly obtained from the authors' spectra, and are found to be in good agreement with recent calculations. The linewidths and singularity indices of the XPS and BIS 4f lines are determined and discussed.