We report on our hard x-ray photoemission study of ${\mathrm{Nb}}_3{\mathrm{Cl}}_8$, wherein the breathing Kagome lattice of Nb provides interesting magnetic properties with spin 1/2 per Nb trimer. The $\mathrm{Nb}3d_{5/2}$ and $3d_{3/2}$ core level peaks are accompanied by satellite peaks, suggesting the importance of $\mathrm{Nb}4d$ charge degrees of freedom. The $\mathrm{Cl}1s$ and $2p$ core level spectra have high binding energy peaks which can be assigned to the Cl site with $\mathrm{Cl}3p$ ligand holes near the center of the Nb trimer. The core level spectra indicate that the Nb-Nb and Nb-Cl charge fluctuations play crucial roles in the magnetic interaction between the trimers.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Frustrated magnetism
• Kagome lattice
• Mott insulators
• Density functional theory
• Photoemission