Origin of Middle-Infrared Peaks in Cerium Compounds

Abstract

We have demonstrated that the middle-infrared (mid-IR) peaks in the optical conductivity spectra of Ce$X_3$ ($X$ = Pd, Sn, In) can be explained by first-principle band structure calculation with the spin-orbit interaction. The mid-IR peak shapes in these materials are not identical to one another: CePd${}_3$, CeSn${}_3$, and CeIn${}_3$ have a triple-peak structure, double-peak structure and broad single-peak structure, respectively. These peaks can be theoretically explained by the optical transition from the occupied state to the spin-orbit splitted Ce $4f$ state. This result indicates that the mid-IR peaks originate from the simple band picture with the Ce $4f$ state near the Fermi level, not from the conventional cf hybridization gap based on the periodic Anderson model.

5 pages, 6 figures. To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 78(1) (2009)

References in corpus (2)

• Absence of Hybridization Gap in Heavy Electron Systems and Analysis of YbAl3 in terms of Nearly Free Electron Conduction Band
• Low-Energy Electrodynamics of Heavy Quasiparticles in ZrZn2

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• Band Calculations for Ce Compounds with AuCu${}_3$-type Crystal Structure on the basis of Dynamical Mean Field Theory II. - CeIn${}_3$ and CeSn${}_3$
• Doping Effects on the Electronic Structure of an Anisotropic Kondo Semiconductor CeOs${}_2$Al${}_{10}$: An Optical Study with Re and Ir Substitution