Electronic structure of MgB₂ from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

The first angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy results from MgB$_2$ single crystals are reported. Close to the $\Gamma$K and $\Gamma$M directions, three distinct dispersions are observed approaching the Fermi energy, as can be assigned to the theoretically predicted $\sigma$ (B $2p_{x,y}$) and $\pi$ (B $2p_z$) bands. In addition, we also observed a small parabolic-like band centered around $\Gamma$, and attributed it to a surface-derived state. Good agreement between our results and the band calculations suggests that the electronic structure of MgB$_2$ is of a conventional nature, thus implying that electron correlations are weak, and may be of little importance to the superconductivity in this system.