X-ray-emission studies of chemical bonding in transition-metal silicides

Abstract

We present Si ${\mathit{L}}_{2,3}$ emission-band spectra of a series of 3d and 4d transition-metal (TM) silicides, together wtih Si K emission-band spectra of four 3d TM disilicides. The data are compared with augmented-spherical-wave density-of-states (DOS) calculations, and good agreement is found. The trends we find are explained with a general scheme for chemical bonding in TM silicides. The differences between the experimental data and the calculated DOS curves are tentatively attributed to self-energy effects.