Electronic structure and spectral properties of RCuSi (R=Nd,Gd) compounds

We report a joint experimental and theoretical investigation of optical properties and electronic structure of NdCuSi and GdCuSi compounds. Optical characteristics have been studied employing ellipsometry in a spectral range 0.22-15 μm. Spin-polarized calculations of the electronic structure have been performed using LSDA+U method accounting for electronic correlations in the 4f shell of rare earth elements. Additionally, we probe our electronic structures by calculating the interband optical conductivities and comparing them with spectral measurement. We find that all main features of the experimental curves have been qualitative interpreted using the calculated densities of states.