Semiconductor valence‐band edges are computed on absolute energy scales determined by Herman‐Skillman and Hartree–Fock neutral atom ionization energies, respectively. These calculations use Harrison’s (1977) elementary theory of heterojunctions. Differences are compared with experimental heterojunction band discontinuities. It is shown that calculations based on Herman–Skillman neutral atom energies and Harrison’s original solid‐state matrix elements agree somewhat better with experiment than later results (1981) based on Hartree–Fock neutral atom energies and modified solid‐state matrix elements. Although no simple theory for heterojunction core‐level discontinuities seems to exist, it is shown that the experimentally measured heterojunction core‐level discontinuities are roughly equal to the binding energy differences of fully relaxed neutral atom core levels such as those calculated by Huang and co‐workers.

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