Electronic signature of the vacancy ordering in NbO (Nb₃O₃)

We investigated the electronic structure of the vacancy-ordered 4d-transition metal monoxide NbO (Nb₃O₃) using angle-integrated soft- and hard-x-ray photoelectron spectroscopies as well as ultra-violet angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. We found that density-functional-based band structure calculations can describe the spectral features accurately provided that self-interaction effects are taken into account. In the angle-resolved spectra we were able to identify the so-called vacancy band that characterizes the ordering of the vacancies. This together with the band structure results indicates the important role of the very large inter-Nb-4d hybridization for the formation of the ordered vacancies and the high thermal stability of the ordered structure of niobium monoxide.