  We studied the electronic structure of rare-earth ditelluride (ReTe_2 : Re =
La, Pr, Sm, and Gd) using photoemission spectroscopy. From the x-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study of the 3d core levels of rare-earth
elements, we found that all the rare earth elements are trivalent. We have also
made theoretical calculations using the Gunnarsson and Schoenhammer
approximation and multiplet calculations for the rare earth elements to find
that the La and Gd~3d peaks are well explained using our calculations. There is
no considerable change in the line-shape of the Te~3d peaks depending on
different rare earth elements. On ther other hand, valence band spectra studied
with the ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) show a small change in
the Te p band depending on rare-earth elements. According to the UPS data,
LaTe_2 has very low carrier density at the Fermi level while SmTe_2 and PrTe_2
show strongly metallic band structure effects near the Fermi level.
