Electronic structure of layered uranium compounds from photoemission spectroscopy

We present the photoemission results of two layered tetragonal compounds, the anti-ferromagnet UAsSe and ferromagnet USb,. We observed intriguing electronic structure for both UAsSe and USb,, in which relatively dispersive and narrow 5f bands are present. In the vicinity of the Fermi edge we found a very sharp photoemission peak with dispersion of several meV along the Gamma to Z direction of the Brillouin zone. We also found a broader, hybridized f-character band with dispersion of several hundred meV along the F to X direction. Narrow and dispersive bands in these U-based magnetic materials are reminiscent of band magnetism as previously found in some transition metals. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.