Low-energy electron spectrum in copper oxides in the multiband p-d model

An exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian in the p-d model of a CuO₆ cluster was used to obtain dependences on the model parameters of the lowest-energy two-hole terms: the energy difference between the 2p orbitals of planar and apical oxygen Δ(apex)=ε(2p)−ε[2p(apex)], the crystal field parameter , and the ratio of the distances between the copper atom and the apical and planar oxygen atoms d(apex)/d(pl). In the limit of large d(apex)/d(pl) and Δ_d, our model is equivalent to the three-band p-d model and, in this case, large singlet-triplet splitting Δε⩾1 eV is also observed. As the parameters decrease, a singlet-triplet crossover is observed. Two mechanisms are identified for stabilization of the triplet term ³ B _1g (0) as the ground state. It is shown that for realistic values of the parameters, reduction of the p-d model to the three-band model is limited by the low energies of the current excitations because of the presence of the lower excited ³ B _1g and ¹ A _1g cluster states. Intercluster hopping causes strong mixing of singlet and triplet states far from the G point. The results of the calculations are compared with data obtained by angle-resolved photoelectron emission in Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 184–190 (February 1998)