Electronic structure of the thorium hydrides ThH2 and Th4H15

Photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation has been used to study the electronic structure of single-phase stoichiometric ThH2 and Th4H15. Th-derived conduction bands are observed together with lower-lying hybridized bonding bands. For Th4H15, a narrow d-like conduction band (∼0.6-eV full width at half-maximum) separated from other bands by a 2-eV band gap is seen. Energy-dependent cross-section measurements for the various bands have been used to determine hybridization and angular momentum character. © 1977 The American Physical Society.