Electronic structure of rare-earth hexaborides

Reflectivity spectra of all rare-earth hexaboride R${\mathrm{B}}_6$ (R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Yb, and Y) single crystals have been measured systematically in the energy region from 1 meV to 40 eV at 300 K in order to investigate the electronic state and the contribution of the 4f electron to the band structure. The analysis of the optical conductivity and the loss-function spectra, which were derived from the Kramers-Kronig transformation of the reflectivity spectra, allowed us to make clear the origin of the peak structure in the spectrum due to the various interband transitions. The origins of the main peaks in the spectrum were assigned to the interband transitions from the bonding to the antibonding bands of the boron 2s and 2p states and to the rare-earth 5d state. The intra-atomic transition from the 4f and the 5p to the 5d(${\mathit{t}}_{2\mathit{g}}$) states in the rare-earth ion was also observed.