The electronic structure of MoC and WC by anion photoelectron spectroscopy

Photoelectron spectra of MoC− and WC− are reported at two detachment energies, 532 and 355 nm. The electron affinities of MoC and WC were measured to be 1.358 (0.010) and 1.022 (0.010) eV, respectively. Seven low-lying electronic states were observed for MoC within 2 eV above its ground state whereas six were observed for WC within 2.4 eV above its ground state. The bonding and spectroscopy of MoC and WC were found to be different and were attributed to their different atomic configurations due to the strong relativistic effects in W. The current study reports the first spectroscopic information on WC.