High-resolution soft x-ray photoemission study of a Kondo semiconductor and related compounds

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution soft x-ray photoemission to analyze the electronic structures of a Kondo semiconductor CeRhAs and related compounds, revealing surface preparation effects and differences in electronic states.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed comparison of surface preparation methods and their impact on photoemission spectra in Kondo semiconductors.

Findings

Fracturing yields cleaner intrinsic spectra than scraping.

Ce 4d core-level spectra differ among CeRhAs, CeNiSn, and CePdSn.

Surface treatment significantly affects photoemission results.

Abstract

We have performed the bulk-sensitive high-resolution soft x-ray photoemission study of a Kondo semiconductor CeRhAs and related compounds CeNiSn and CePdSn. The comparison of the spectra of polycrystalline CePdSn on the fractured and scraped surfaces shows that the fracturing of the samples is much better than the scraping in order to obtain intrinsic photoemission spectra. The Ce 4d core-level spectra show clear differences in the electronic states among the materials.