Systematic trends in the electronic structure parameters of the 4d transition-metal oxides SrMO3 (M=Zr, Mo, Ru, and Rh) -: art. no. 113101

We investigated the electronic structures of the perovskite-type 4d transition-metal oxides SrMO3 (M=Zr, Mo, Ru, and Rh) using their optical conductivity spectra sigma(omega). The interband transitions in sigma(omega) are assigned, and some important electronic structure parameters, such as charge-transfer energy Delta(pd), and crystal-field splitting 10Dq, are estimated. It is observed that Delta(pd) and 10Dq decrease systematically with increasing the atomic number of the 4d transition metal. Compared with the case of 3d oxides, the magnitudes of Delta(pd) and 10Dq are larger. These behaviors can be explained by the more extended nature of the orbitals in the 4d oxides.