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Abstract

CeRhSn with the Ce atoms forming a quasikagome lattice in the hexagonal plane has recently been discussed in the context of quantum criticality driven by magnetic frustration. Furthermore, it has been reported that the successive substitution of Rh by Pd leads to magnetic order. Here we have investigated the change of the 4f occupation in the substitution series CeRh1−xPdxSn for for x=0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.75 by means of photoelectron spectroscopy with hard x rays (HAXPES). The quantitative analysis of the core level spectra with a combined full multiplet and configuration interaction analysis shows a smooth decrease of the 4f0 contribution with rising x due to an increase of the effective 4f binding energy ɛ4f and the reduction of the effective hybridization Veff. We further compare valence band data with the calculated partial density of states and find that the Pd 4d states are about 1 eV further away from the Ce 4f states at the Fermi energy than the Rh 4d states. In fact, the effective binding energy ɛ4f of the 4f states in the configuration interaction analysis of the core level spectra decreases by the same amount. ©2021 American Physical Society