Kondo insulators in high magnetic fields

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

Applied magnetic fields are a key tuning parameter in the study of Kondo insulators. In this talk, I will first discuss high-field magnetometry and electrical transport measurements of two Kondo insulators: SmB6 and Ce3Bi4Pd3. In the former, dHvA quantum oscillations from light effective masses vanish as embedded aluminum impurities are removed [1], and scanning tunneling microscopy reveals surface states with heavy effective masses. In the latter, a Fermi-liquid state emerges at remarkably low fields due to the closure of a modest Kondo gap [3]. I will then present recent electrical transport experiments in microstructured devices that show an enhancement of the modest Kondo gap of Ce3Bi4Pd3 under hydrostatic pressure, a behavior typical of Kondo insulators [4]. At the end of the talk, I will highlight broader open questions in the field of Kondo insulators.

*The high-magnetic field work was supported by the US Department of Energy "Science of 100 tesla" BES program. SK Kushwaha and MO Ajeesh acknowledge support from the Laboratory Directed Research & Development Program. Scanning electron microscope and focused ion beam measurements were supported by the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. Measurements under applied pressure were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences "Quantum Fluctuations in Narrow Band Systems" program. The work at Harvard was supported by the US National Science Foundation under grant nos. DMR-1106023 and DMR-1410480.

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Publication: [1] S. M. Thomas, X Ding, F Ronning, V Zapf, JD Thompson, Z Fisk, J Xia, PFS Rosa. Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 166401 (2019).
[2] H Pirie, Y Liu, A Soumyanarayanan, P Chen, Ya He, MM Yee, PFS Rosa, JD Thompson, Dae-Jeong Kim, Z Fisk, Xiangfeng Wang, J Paglione, DK Morr, MH Hamidian, JE Hoffman. Nature Physics 16 (1), 52-56 (2020).
[3] SK Kushwaha, MK Chan, J Park, SM Thomas, ED Bauer, JD Thompson, F Ronning, PFS Rosa, N Harrison. Nature Communications 10, 5487 (2019).
[4] MO Ajeesh, SM Thomas, SK Kushwaha, ED Bauer, F Ronning, JD Thompson, N Harrison, PFS Rosa, arXiv:2110.08230 (2021).

Presenters

  • Priscila Rosa

    • Quantum Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
    • Los Alamos National Laboratory

Authors

  • Priscila Rosa

    • Quantum Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
    • Los Alamos National Laboratory