Electronic structure of Cr2AlC as observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

We investigate the electronic band structure and Fermi surfaces (FSs) of $\mathrm{C}{\mathrm{r}}_{2}\mathrm{AlC}$ single crystals with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We evidence hole bands centered around the $M$ points and electron bands centered around the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ point in reciprocal space. Electron and hole bands exhibit an open, tubular structure along the $c$ axis, confirming the quasi-two-dimensional character of this highly anisotropic, nanolamellar compound. Dependence of the photoionization cross sections on beam light polarization and orientation allows us to assess the orbital character of each observed band locally. Despite some differences, density functional theory calculations show a good agreement with experiment.