Anisotropy in the electronic structure of V2GeC investigated by soft x-ray emission spectroscopy and first-principles theory

Abstract

The anisotropy of the electronic structure of ternary nanolaminate V2GeC is investigated by bulk-sensitive soft x-ray emission spectroscopy. The measured polarization-dependent emission spectra of V L2,3, C K, Ge M1 and Ge M2,3 in V2GeC are compared to those from monocarbide VC and pure Ge. The experimental emission spectra are interpreted with calculated spectra using ab initio density-functional theory including dipole transition matrix elements. Different types of covalent chemical bond regions are revealed; V 3d - C 2p bonding at -3.8 eV, Ge 4p - C 2p bonding at -6 eV and Ge 4p - C 2s interaction mediated via the V 3d orbitals at -11 eV below the Fermi level. We find that the anisotropic effects are high for the 4p valence states and the shallow 3d core levels of Ge, while relatively small anisotropy is detected for the V 3d states. The macroscopic properties of the V2GeC nanolaminate result from the chemical bonds with the anisotropic pattern as shown in this work.

15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.035117

References in corpus (5)

• Bonding mechanism in the nitrides Ti2AlN and TiN: an experimental and theoretical investigation
• Electronic structure and chemical bonding in Ti2AlC investigated by soft x-ray emission spectroscopy
• Electronic structure investigation of Ti3AlC2, Ti3SiC2, and Ti3GeC2 by soft-X-ray emission spectroscopy
• Energy Dependence of Cu L2,3 Satellites using Synchrotron Excited X-ray Emission Spectroscopy
• Electronic structure and chemical bonding in Ti4SiC3 investigated by soft x-ray emission spectroscopy and first principle theory

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