Metal valence states inEu0.7NbO3,EuNbO3,andEu2Nb5O9by TB-LMTO-ASA band-structure calculations and resonant photoemission spectroscopy

The electronic structures of ${\mathrm{Eu}}_{2}{\mathrm{Nb}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{9},$ ${\mathrm{EuNbO}}_{3},$ and ${\mathrm{Eu}}_{0.7}{\mathrm{NbO}}_{3}$ have been investigated by photoemission and total-yield spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation, and in the case of ${\mathrm{Eu}}_{2}{\mathrm{Nb}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{9}$ by tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) band-structure calculations. A central question for reduced europium niobates is that of the valence of Eu and Nb. Both europium and niobium atoms can appear in different valence states so that various electronic configurations in the title compounds are possible. For this reason, the valence band was studied by the resonant Eu…