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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
We determine the plasmon energies of the skutterudites CoP3, CoAs3 and CoSb3 by electron energy loss spectroscopy, and compare with calculated values from the Drude model and density functional theory (DFT). For these compounds, whose doped versions have potential applications as thermoelectric materials, there is a relatively large discrepancy between experiment and theory based on the Drude model as well as the DFT-calculations. We also study the transitions from occupied to unoccupied states near the Fermi-level that show up at energies lower than the plasmon energies. The features observed are in general agreement with the DFT-calculations.