Electronic structure of the heavy fermion superconductor Ce2PdIn8: Experiment and calculations

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2015-10, Vol.647, p.605-611
• Main Authors: Werwiński, M., Szajek, A., Ślebarski, A., Kaczorowski, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electronic structure; Heavy-fermions; Superconductivity
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.05.143

The electronic structure of a heavy-fermion superconductor Ce2PdIn8 was investigated by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ab initio density functional band structure calculations. The Ce 3d core-level XPS spectra point to stable trivalent configuration of Ce atoms that is also reproduced in the band structure calculations within the generalized gradient approximation GGA+U approach. Analysis of the 3d9f2 weight in the 3d XPS spectra within the Gunnarsson-Schönhammer model suggests that the onsite hybridization energy between Ce 4f and the conduction band states, Δfs, is ∼120 meV, which is about 30 meV larger than Δfs in isostructural Ce2TIn8 compounds with T = Co, Rh, and Ir. Taking into account a Coulomb repulsion U on both the Ce 4f and Pd 4d states in electronic band structure calculations, a satisfactory agreement was found between the calculated density of states (DOS) and the measured valence band XPS spectra. •XPS data validated strong electronic correlations in superconducting Ce2PdIn8.•DFT calculations reproduced XPS spectra measured for Ce2PdIn8.•Crucial role of Pd d electrons in the HF behavior of Ce2PdIn8 was established.