Bonding in titanium carbide. I. Experimental electron momentum distributions in polycrystalline Ti and TiC

Compton profiles of polycrystalline titanium and titanium carbide have been measured with 59.54 keV gamma rays. All results are corrected for double Compton scattering. In the case of Ti the experimental result agrees fairly well with the outer electron configuration 3d 2 4s 2 where the renormalized free atom model has been used for two 4s electrons. The TiC profile has been compared with a theoretical model where Ti is a donor and with a model where Ti is an acceptor. The experimental result is found to support the model where electrons transfer from titanium to carbon when titanium carbide is formed.