No Arabic abstract
Semiconducting skutterudite CeFe$_4$P$_{12}$ is investigated by synchrotron x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (PES) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Ce 3$d$ core-level PES and 3$d-4f$ XAS, in combination with single impurity Anderson model (SIAM) calculations, confirm features due to $f^0$, $f^1$ and $f^2$ configurations. The Ce 4$f$ density of states (DOS) indicates absence of a Kondo resonance at Fermi level, but can still be explained by SIAM with a small gap in non-$f$ DOS. While Ce 4$f$ partial DOS from band structure calculations are also consistent with the main Ce 4$f$ DOS, the importance of SIAM for core and valence spectra indicates Kondo semiconducting mixed valence for CeFe$_4$P$_{12}$, derived from strong hybridization between non-$f$ conduction and Ce 4$f$ DOS.
Shortly after the discovery of topological band insulators, the topological Kondo insulators (TKIs) have also been theoretically predicted. The latter has ignited revival interest in the properties of Kondo insulators. Currently, the feasibility of topological nature in SmB$_6$ has been intensively analyzed by several complementary probes. Here by starting with a minimal-orbital Anderson lattice model, we explore the local electronic structure in a Kondo insulator. We show that the two strong topological regimes sandwiching the weak topological regime give rise to a single Dirac cone, which is located near the center or corner of the surface Brillouin zone. We further find that, when a single impurity is placed on the surface, low-energy resonance states are induced in the weak scattering limit for the strong TKI regimes and the resonance level moves monotonically across the hybridization gap with the strength of impurity scattering potential; while low energy states can only be induced in the unitary scattering limit for the weak TKI regime, where the resonance level moves universally toward the center of the hybridization gap. These impurity induced low-energy quasiparticles will lead to characteristic signatures in scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, which has recently found success in probing into exotic properties in heavy fermion systems.
The Kondo resonance at the Fermi level is well-established for the electronic structure of Ce (f1 electron) and Yb (f1 hole) based systems. In this work, we report complementary experimental and theoretical studies on the Kondo resonance in Pr-based f2 system, PrTi2Al20. Using Pr 3d-4f resonant photoemission spectroscopy and single impurity Anderson model (SIAM) calculations including the full multiplets of Pr ions, we show that an f2 system can also give rise to a Kondo resonance at the Fermi level. The Kondo resonance peak is experimentally observed through a final-state-multiplet dependent resonance and is reproduced with properly tuned hybridization strength in SIAM calculations.
One of the main open problems in the field of transport in strongly interacting nanostructures is the understanding of currents beyond the linear response regime. In this work, we consider the single-impurity Anderson model and use the adaptive time-dependent density matrix renormalization group (tDMRG) method to compute real-time currents out of equilibrium. We first focus on the particle-hole symmetric point where Kondo correlations are the strongest and then extend the study of the nonequilibrium transport to the mixed-valence regime. As a main result, we present accurate data for the current-voltage characteristics of this model.
Electronic structures of the filled-skutterudite compounds PrRu$_4$P$_{12}$ and SmRu$_4$P$_{12}$, which undergo a metal-insulator transition (MIT) at $T_{rm MI}$ = 60 K and 16 K, respectively, have been studied by means of optical spectroscopy. Their optical conductivity spectra develop an energy gap of $sim$ 10 meV below $T_{rm MI}$. The observed characteristics of the energy gap are qualitatively different from those of the Kondo semiconductors. In addition, optical phonon peaks in the spectra show anomalies upon the MIT, including broadening and shifts at $T_{rm MI}$ and an appearance of new peaks below $T_{rm MI}$. These results are discussed in terms of density waves or orbital ordering previously predicted for these compounds.
Nature of the field-induced charge ordered phase (phase II) of SmRu$_4$P$_{12}$ has been investigated by resonant x-ray diffraction (RXD) and polarized neutron diffraction (PND), focusing on the relationship between the atomic displacements and the antiferromagnetic (AFM) moments of Sm. From the analysis of the interference between the non-resonant Thomson scattering and the resonant magnetic scattering, combined with the spectral function obtained from x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, it is shown that the AFM moment of Sm prefers to be parallel to the field ($m_{text{AF}} parallel H$), giving rise to large and small moment sites around which the P$_{12}$ and Ru cage contract and expand, respectively. This is associated with the formation of the staggered ordering of the $Gamma_7$-like and $Gamma_8$-like crystal-field states, providing a strong piece of evidence for the charge order. PND was also performed to obtain complementary and unambiguous conclusion. In addition, isotropic and continuous nature of the phase II is demonstrated by the field-direction invariance of the interference spectrum in RXD. Crucial role of the $p$-$f$ hybridization is shown by resonant soft x-ray diffraction at the P $K$-edge ($1sleftrightarrow 3p$), where we detected a resonance due to the spin polarized $3p$ orbitals reflecting the AFM order of Sm.