Do all nuclei recoil on photoemission in compounds

Hard and soft x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed for core and valence electrons in solid compounds containing V and O atoms. The single-nucleus recoil effects on photoelectron emission were observed in the form of recoil shifts for all core levels and the valence band in a heavy Fermion material LiV2O4, whereas such shifts were negligible in VO2 even in the high-temperature metal phase. The valence band recoil shifts of V5O9 and V2O3 metal are found to be in between. These differences in the valence band are ascribable to the difference in the relative spectral weight of the O 2p component near the Fermi level.