Electronic structure of PrCoO₃ and its temperature evolution

We investigate the detailed electronic structure of PrCoO$_3$ and its temperature evolution using state-of-the-art photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio band structure calculations. We observe that in addition to the correlation effect, spin-orbit interaction plays an important role in determining the electronic properties of this system. Pr 4$f$ states are found to be strongly hybridized with the O 2$p$ and Co 3$d$ valence electronic states, and thus influences the electronic properties significantly. The calculated results corresponding to the intermediate spin state of Co provide a good description of the experimental spectra at 300 K. The decrease in temperature from 300 K leads to a gradual enhancement of the low spin state contributions in the electronic structure. The temperature evolution of the band gap is found to be consistent with the transport data.