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Abstract:
We have investigated the electronic structure of the equiatomic EuAuMg, GdAuMg, YbAuMg, and GdAgMg intermetallics using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The spectra revealed that the Yb and Eu are divalent while the Gd is trivalent. The spectral weight in the vicinity of the Fermi level is dominated by the mix of Mg s, Au/Ag sp, and R spd bands. We also found that the Au and Ag d bands are extraordinarily narrow, as if the noble metal atoms were impurities submerged in a low density sp metal host. The experimental results were compared with band structure calculations, and we found good agreement provided that the spin-orbit interaction in the Au an Ag d bands is included and correlation effects in an open 4f shell are accounted for.
