Electronic structure of the superconducting layered perovskite niobate

The electronic energy-band structure for RbLaNb2O7, which is closely related to the layered perovskite niobate superconducting KCa2Nb3O10 and metallic KLaNb2O7 with Li intercalation, has been calculated by using the scalar-relativistic full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave method within the local-density approximation. The result of the calculation shows that this compound is a band insulator with a small gap, and its conduction band is a typical two-dimensional one and the valence band is rather three dimensional. We can conclude that the layered perovskite niobate KCa2Nb3O10 is a band insulator that can be superconducting with electron doping, and have the highly two-dimensional electronic structure.