IDENTIFICATION OF FE 3D EMPTY STATES FROM THE TOTAL CURRENT SPECTRA OF AN ALPHA-FE2O3(0001) SURFACE

An intensive triplet line is revealed in the total current spectrum (T CS) of a reconstructed (alpha-Fe20(3)(0001) surface. The nature of the observed structure in the TCS is discussed in comparison with previou sly reported data from photoemission, inverse photoemission and theore tical investigations. It is found to be a consequence of the electron transitions into an Fe 3d band of empty states. Energy locations of Fe 3d-band extrema (0.8 +/- 0.05 and 1.8 +/- 0.05 eV above the bottom of the conduction band) and its splitting (1 +/- 0.05 eV) are estimated from the proposed schemes of electron transitions.