Electronic structure of Eu and Yb graphite intercalation compounds

Abstract

An angle-resolved photoemission (PE) study is performed on graphite intercalation compounds (GIC's) with Eu and Yb prepared in situ by deposition of the pure metals onto single-crystalline graphite(0001) surfaces and subsequent annealing. The low-energy-electron-diffraction patterns reveal a sharp (\ensuremath{\surd}3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\ensuremath{\surd}3)R30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} overstructure as observed for other rare-earth (RE) and alkali GIC's. The PE data are in excellent agreement with local-density-approximation band-structure calculations for stage-2 GIC's that indicate charge transfer of about 0.5 electrons per RE atom into graphite-derived states of \ensuremath{\pi} symmetry. This charge transfer is caused by an energetical lowering of the graphite-derived \ensuremath{\pi} bands and leads to the appearance of an intense Fermi-level structure in the PE spectra taken around the K(${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$) point of the Brillouin zone. Admixtures of rare-earth-derivedd states are found close to the Fermi energy in the region of the \ensuremath{\Gamma} and the ${\mathit{M}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ points. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.