Electronic structure of the Peierls compound K0.9Mo6O17

Abstract

The purple potassium bronze of molybdenum is a quasi two-dimensional compound showing a Peierls transition at 120 K. This transition is driven by the properties of the conduction electrons. In order to confirm the nature of the transition, we have investigated at room temperature the electronic structure of this oxide and established its band structure in the ΓK direction. A weak conduction band is detected, well separated from the valence band by a depleted region. The valence band shows several structures attributed to oxygen-type states and to the K3p shallow core level. The structures of the conduction band reveal the presence of at least two bands crossing the Fermi level, in relatively good agreement with the calculated band structure.