Optical Absorption of Tellurium in the Region between 39 and 250 eV

The absorption spectrum of evaporated thin films of crystalline and amorphous tellurium was measured in the region between 39 and 250 eV. The electron synchrotron DESY was used as a light source. A sharp doublet around 42 eV and a weak structure on its high energy side associated with transitions from the spin—orbit split 4d core levels to the conduction band were observed and compared with the density of conduction states of crystalline tellurium and with the calculated multiplet splitting of the 4d95p5 configuration of atomic Te. The doublet was also observed in the amorphous phase. At higher energies the absorption spectrum is dominated by a broad, large maximum at 87 eV. After a minimum at 165 eV the absorption increases again with increasing photon energy. This behavior is very similar to the absorption spectrum of solid and gaseous xenon. It can be explained by quasi‐atomic d–f transitions.