Resonant photoelectron spectroscopy on NiO

Abstract

Resonant photoelectron spectroscopy studies have been performed on the NiO valence band at photon energies corresponding to the Ni $2p$,$3p$,and O $1s$ absorption thresholds. Strong resonances are seen in the vicinity of the Ni $2p$ threshold, which confirm earlier conclusions from the weaker resonances seen at the Ni $3p$ threshold. No valence-band resonance is observed at the O $1s$ threshold. The analysis of this data confirms the picture of NiO as a strongly correlated charge-transfer insulator by identifying the highest-lying states as being of mainly $3{d}^{8}\mathit{L}$ final-state character. The existence of localized excited Ni states, as well as the delocalized nature of the O states, are confirmed. Comparisons with the configuration-interaction model and quasiparticle calculations are also made.