Angle-resolved photoemission study of a vacancy-induced state in substoichiometric VC

A vacancy induced state has been identified at about 1.8eV binding energy on the (100) face of VC_0.80 using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The recorded spectra are compared with calculated spectra for VC_1.0 and the results show that the origin of the observed state cannot be accounted for by the energy band structure of VC_1.0. Photoemission spectra recorded after exposing the clean surface to O₂ and CO are also presented and used in a discussion of the sensitivity of the vacancy induced state to surface contamination.