Surface state properties of SmB<sub>6</sub> under pressure

ORAL

Abstract

Electronic transport in the Kondo insulator SmB6 is dominated at low temperatures by a surface state, which could arise as a consequence of a non-trivial topology of its bulk electronic structure. At ambient pressure, our thermopower measurements have suggested the surface states of SmB6 to have a strongly enhanced effective mass, consistent with recent quasiparticle interference studies from STM. Pressure increases the hybridization between f- and conduction electrons eventually leading to a metallic state. Here we report thermopower measurements under pressure that illustrate that the Fermi energy of the surface state is unchanged as a function of pressure in the insulating regime. We discuss our results in consideration of Hall effect data that reveal a carrier density increase with increasing pressure.

*Work at Los Alamos was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Science and Engineering. S.S. acknowledges a Directors Postdoctoral Fellowship through the Laboratory Directed Research & Development program.

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Presenters

  • Filip Ronning

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab
    • Condensed Matter and Magnet Science Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Authors

  • Soonbeom Seo

    • Los Alamos Natl Lab
    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Yongkang Luo

    • Huazhong University of Science and Technology
    • University of California, Los Angeles
    • Huazhong University of Science & Technology

  • Sean Thomas

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Zachary Fisk

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Irvine
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine
    • Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Irvine
    • University of California, Irvine, USA
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy,, University of California-Irvine

  • Joe D Thompson

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Priscila Rosa

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab
    • Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA

  • Filip Ronning

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Los Alamos Natl Lab
    • Condensed Matter and Magnet Science Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory