Element-Specific Orbital Character in a Nearly-Free-Electron Superconductor Ag₅Pb₂O₆ Revealed by Core-Level Photoemission

Ag$_5$Pb$_2$O$_6$ has attracted considerable attention due to its novel nearly-free-electron superconductivity, but its electronic structure and orbital character of the Cooper-pair electrons remain controversial. Here, we present a method utilizing core-level photoemission to show that Pb 6$s$ electrons dominate near the Fermi level. We observe a strongly asymmetric Pb 4$f_{7/2}$ core-level spectrum, while a Ag 3$d_{5/2}$ spectrum is well explained by two symmetric peaks. The asymmetry in the Pb 4$f_{7/2}$ spectrum originates from the local attractive interaction between conducting Pb 6$s$ electrons and a Pb 4$f_{7/2}$ core hole, which implies a dominant Pb 6$s$ contribution to the metallic conduction. In addition, the observed Pb 4$f_{7/2}$ spectrum is not explained by the well-known Doniach-\v{S}unji\'{c} lineshape for a simple metal. The spectrum is successfully generated by employing a Pb 6$s$ partial density of states from local density approximation calculations, thus confirming the Pb 6$s$ dominant character and free-electron-like density of states of Ag$_5$Pb$_2$O$_6$.