XANES study of intermediate valence in some cation doped SmS systems

Abstract

Sm1−x TbxS (x = 0.16 and 0.20) and Sm0.75 Tm0.25S alloys have been studied using X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) technique to investigate the valence states of Sm and the substituents, Tb and Tm. The Sm LIII absorption edge data provide direct evidence for the intermediate valence of Sm in both systems, on the other hand, the LIII absorption edges of Tb and Tm indicate a purely trivalent ground state of these in the alloys. Their lattice parameters measured by XRD show a fair agreement with the XANES results.