Photoemission study of CeRu2 and CeCo2

Abstract

A resonant photoemission spectroscopy (RPES) study has been performed for the f-electron superconductors of CeRu2 and CeCo2 near the Ce 4d --> 4f absorption edge. The RPES provides evidence for the strong hybridization between Ce 4f and conduction-band electrons in both CeRu2 and CeCo2. Comparison of the photoemission data to the calculated density of states reveals a reasonably good agreement for CeRu2, but a less good agreement for CeCo2. The itinerant nature of Ce 4f electrons suggests that the role of the Ce 4f electrons is important in determining the superconductivity in these systems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.