Photoelectron spectroscopy study of PuN

Reactive sputtering of Pu in an Ar atmosphere with variable concentration of N leads to the synthesis of PuN as the highest nitride. A photoelectron spectroscopy study of valence-band spectra reveals massive spectral features related to the N-2p states in the range 2-5-eV binding energy. The 5f emission dominating closer to the Fermi level displays similar characteristics to the Pu metal, namely, the three features in the range 0-1-eV binding energy. The 5f states can therefore be assumed to be essentially delocalized.