Itinerant nature of U 5f states in uranium mononitride revealed by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

作者：Fujimori Shin ichi^*; Ohkochi Takuo; Okane Tetsuo; Saitoh Yuji; Fujimori Atsushi; Yamagami Hiroshi; Haga Yoshinori; Yamamoto Etsuji; Onuki Yoshichika

来源：Physical Review B, 2012, 86(23): 235108.

DOI：10.1103/PhysRevB.86.235108

The electronic structure of the antiferromagnet uranium nitride (UN) has been studied by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) using soft x-rays (h nu = 420-520 eV). Strongly dispersive bands with large contributions from the U 5f states were observed in ARPES spectra and form Fermi surfaces. The band structure as well as the Fermi surfaces in the paramagnetic phase are well explained by the band-structure calculation treating all the U 5f electrons as being itinerant, suggesting that an itinerant description of the U 5f states is appropriate for this compound. On the other hand, changes in the spectral function due to the antiferromagnetic transition were very small. The shapes of the Fermi surfaces in a paramagnetic phase are highly three-dimensional, and the nesting of Fermi surfaces is unlikely as the origin of the magnetic ordering. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.86.235108