A comparative study of the optical properties of TbRhGe and DyRhGe

• Optical properties of TbRhGe and DyRhGe have been measured.
• Significant differences in optical spectra of these compounds were revealed.
• Electronic structures were calculated within the LSDA + U method.
• Comparison of experimental and calculated optical conductivities was made.

In this paper, experimental and theoretical optical properties of TbRhGe and DyRhGe have been reported and compared. Our measurements by the ellipsometric method in the wavelength range 0.22–15 μm revealed significant differences in energy positions of the interband peaks in the spectral functions of these ternary compounds. The electronic structure of TbRhGe and DyRhGe calculated within the LSDA + U method was used to obtain theoretical optical conductivity, which is in good agreement with the experimental one. Further analysis allowed us to track changes in interband transitions related to the rare-earth 4f and rhodium 4d states, which are responsible for the observed differences in optical properties of TbRhGe and DyRhGe compounds.

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