Given the parallelism between the physical properties of Ce and Yb based magnets and heavy fermions due to the electron-hole symmetry, it has been rather odd that the transition temperature of the Yb based compounds is normally very small, as low as $\sim$ 1 K or even lower, whereas Ce counterparts may often have the transition temperature well exceeding 10 K. Here, we report our experimental discovery of the transition temperature reaching 20 K for the first time in a Yb based compound at ambient pressure. The Mn substitution at the Al site in an intermediate valence state of $α$-YbAlB$_{4}$ not only induces antiferromagnetic transition at a record high temperature of 20 K but also transforms the heavy fermion liquid state in $α$-YbAlB$_{4}$ into a highly resistive metallic state proximate to a Kondo insulator.
The Kondo lattice model, augmented by a Zeeman term, serves as a useful model of a Kondo insulator in an applied magnetic field. A variational mean field analysis of this system on a square lattice, backed up by quantum Monte Carlo calculations, reveals an interesting separation of magnetic field scales. For Zeeman energy comparable to the Kondo energy, the spin gap closes and the system develops transverse staggered magnetic order. The charge gap, however, survives up to a higher hybridization energy scale, at which point the canted antiferromagnetism is suppressed and the system becomes meta…
The variational cluster approach (VCA) based on the self-energy functional theory is applied to the two-dimensional symmetric periodic Anderson model at half filling. We calculate a variety of physical quantities including the staggered moments and single-particle spectra at zero temperature to show that the symmetry breaking due to antiferromagnetic ordering occurs in the strong coupling region, whereas in the weak coupling region, the Kondo insulating state without symmetry breaking is realized. The critical interaction strength is estimated. We thus demonstrate that the phase transition due…
Highly accurate numerical results for single-particle spectrum and order parameter are obtained for the magnetically ordered Kondo lattice by means of the dynamical mean-field theory combined with the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method. Hybridized energy bands involving local spins are identified in the Néel state as a hallmark of itinerant antiferromagnetism. At the boundary of the reduced Brillouin zone, the two-fold degeneracy remains in spite of the doubled unit cell. This degeneracy results if the molecular field felt by localized spins has identical magnitude and reversed directi…
A theory is proposed to describe the competition among antiferromagnetism (AF), spin glass (SG) and Kondo effect. The model describes two Kondo sublattices with an intrasite Kondo interaction strength $J_{K}$ and a random Gaussian interlattice interaction in the presence of a transverse field $Γ$. The $Γ$ field is introduced as a quantum mechanism to produce spin flipping and the random coupling has average $-2J_0/N$ and variance $32 J^{2}/N$. The path integral formalism with Grassmann fields is used to study this fermionic problem, in which the disorder is treated within the framework of the …
Doping Kondo lattice system CeRu2Si2 with Rh-8% (Ce(Ru0.92Rh0.08)2Si2) leads to drastic consequences due to the mismatch of the lattice parameters between CeRu2Si2 and CeRh2Si2. A large variety of experiments clarifies the unusual properties of the ground state induced by the magnetic field from longitudinal antiferromagnetic (AF) mode at H = 0 to polarized paramagnetic phase in very high magnetic field. The separation between AF phase, paramagnetic phase and polarized paramagnetic phase varying with temperature, magnetic field and pressure is discussed on the basis of the experiments down to …
Motivated by both experimental and theoretical activities, we discuss the fate of Kondo screening and possible quantum phase transitions in antiferromagnetically ordered phases of Kondo lattices. While transitions with topological changes of the Fermi surface may occur, we demonstrate that an entirely continuous evolution from itinerant to local-moment antiferromagnetism (i.e. from strong to negligible Kondo screening) is possible as well. This situation is in contrast to that in a non-symmetry-broken situation where a quantum phase transition towards an exotic metallic spin-liquid state neces…
The competition between spin glass (SG), antiferromagnetism (AF) and Kondo effect is studied here in a model which consists of two Kondo sublattices with a gaussian random interaction between spins in differents sublattices with an antiferromagnetic mean Jo and standard deviation J. In the present approach there is no hopping of the conduction electrons between the sublattices and only spins in different sublattices can interact. The problem is formulated in the path integral formalism where the spin operators are expressed as bilinear combinations of Grassmann fields which can be solved at me…
Antiferromagnetism and Stripe Channel Order in the $\mathrm{SU}(N)$-Symmetric Two-Channel Kondo Lattice Model
Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem（拉卡物理研究所，耶路撒冷希伯来大学）；Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universität Würzburg（维尔茨堡大学理论与天体物理学研究所）；Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat（维尔茨堡-德累斯顿卓越集群 ctd.qmat）；The Fritz Haber Research Center for Molecular Dynamics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem（弗里茨·哈伯分子动力学研究中心，耶路撒冷希伯来大学）
A nodeless superconducting (SC) gap was reported in a recent scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiment of a copper-oxide monolayer grown on the Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+δ}$ (Bi2212) substrate [Y. Zhong {\it et al.}, Sci. Bull. {\bf 61}, 1239 (2016)], which is in stark contrast to the nodal d-wave pairing gap in the bulk cuprates. Motivated by this experiment, we first show with first-principles calculations that the tetragonal CuO (T-CuO) monolayer on the Bi2212 substrate is more stable than the commonly postulated CuO$_{2}$ structure. The T-CuO monolayer is composed of two CuO$_2$ layers sh…
We investigate the one-dimensional ferromagnetic Kondo lattice in the hole-rich region. Of interest to us is the intermediate situation where the ferromagnetic Kondo coupling (Hund's coupling) is comparable to the electron bandwidth. The forced alignment favors triplet states whereas singlet states enter in a quite low-density regime. The direct antiferromagnetic exchange between the core spins is assumed to still prevail over the double exchange. We discuss a solvable limit showing that short-range antiferromagnetism in the spin array will affect the coherent propagation of triplets, i.e., tu…
Interest in the heavy fermion metals has motivated us to examine the quantum phases and their Fermi surfaces within the Kondo lattice model. We demonstrate that the model is soluble asymptotically exactly in any dimension d>1, when the Kondo coupling is small compared with the RKKY interaction and in the presence of antiferromagnetic ordering. We show that the Kondo coupling is exactly marginal in the renormalization group sense, establishing the stability of an ordered phase with a small Fermi surface, AFs. Our results have implications for the global phase diagram of the heavy fermion metals…
A theory is proposed to describe the competition among antiferromagnetism (AF), spin glass (SG) and Kondo effect. The model describes two Kondo sublattices with an intrasite Kondo interaction strength $J_{K}$ and an interlattice quantum Ising interaction in the presence of a transverse field $Γ$. The interlattice coupling is a random Gaussian distributed variable (with average $-2J_0/N$ and variance $32 J^{2}/N$) while the $Γ$ field is introduced as a quantum mechanism to produce spin flipping. The path integral formalism is used to study this fermionic problem where the spin operators are rep…
We propose a microscopic physical mechanism that stabilizes coexistence of the Kondo effect and antiferromagnetism in heavy-fermion systems. We consider a two-dimensional quantum Kondo-Heisenberg lattice model and show that long-range electron hopping leads to a robust antiferromagnetic Kondo state. By using a modified slave-boson mean-field approach we analyze the stability of the heavy antiferromagnetic phase across a range or parameters, and discuss transitions between different phases. We also address connection to experiments on heavy fermion compounds.
Microscopic origin of hard-plane antiferromagnetism in the Kondo lattice Ce2Rh3Ge5
Indian Institute of Technology (BHU)（印度理工学院（贝拿勒斯））；ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory（STFC拉瑟福德阿普尔顿实验室ISIS中子与μ子源）；University College London（伦敦大学学院）；University of Johannesburg（约翰内斯堡大学）；Paul Scherrer Institute（保罗谢尔研究所）；Institut Laue-Langevin（朗之万研究所）；University of Birmingham（伯明翰大学）；Trinity College, Cambridge（剑桥三一学院）；Kent State University（肯特州立大学）；Stefan Cel Mare University (USV)（斯特凡·大帝大学）
The evolution of the electronic state through the reduction annealing has been investigated in electron-doped Pr_1.3-x_La_0.7_Ce_x_CuO_4+delta_ (x=0.10) single crystals with the so-called T' structure. From the ab plane and c axis electrical resistivity measurements in magnetic fields, it has been found that, through the reduction annealing, the strongly localized state of carriers accompanied by the antiferromagnetic (AF) pseudogap in the as-grown crystal changes to a metallic state bringing about the Kondo effect without AF pseudogap and to a superconducting state. These results are able to …
Zero-field muSR experiments in the heavy-fermion alloys Ce_{1-x}La_xAl_3, x = 0 and 0.2, examine a recent proposal that the system exhibits a strong anisotropic Kondo effect. We resolve a damped oscillatory component for both La concentrations, indicative of disordered antiferromagnetism. For x = 0.2 the oscillation frequency decreases smoothly with increasing temperature, and vanishes at the specific heat anomaly temperature T* \approx 2.2 K. Our results are consistent with the view that T* is due to a magnetic transition rather than anisotropic Kondo behavior.
Due to the interaction between topological defects of an order parameter and underlying fermions, the defects can possess induced fermion numbers, leading to several exotic phenomena of fundamental importance to both condensed matter and high energy physics. One of the intriguing outcome of induced fermion number is the presence of fluctuating competing orders inside the core of topological defect. In this regard, the interaction between fermions and skyrmion excitations of antiferromagnetic phase can have important consequence for understanding the global phase diagrams of many condensed matt…
Heavy fermion systems represent a prototypical setting to study magnetic quantum phase transitions. A particular focus has been on the physics of Kondo destruction, which captures quantum criticality beyond the Landau framework of order-parameter fluctuations. In this context, we study the spin one-half Kondo-Heisenberg model on a honeycomb lattice at half filling. The problem is approached from the Kondo destroyed, antiferromagnetically ordered insulating phase. We describe the local moments in terms of a coarse grained quantum non-linear sigma model, and show that the skyrmion defects of the…
The anisotropic Kondo necklace model in 2D and 3D is treated as a genuine model for magnetic to Kondo singlet quantum phase transitions in the heavy fermion (HF) compounds. The variation of the quantum critical point (QCP) with anisotropy parameters has been investigated previously in the zero field case [1]. Here we extend the treatment to finite fields using a generalised bond operator representation including all triplet states. The variation of critical tc with external field H and the associated phase diagram is derived. The influence of anisotropies and the different g-factors for locali…
We perform a combined experimental-theoretical study of the Fe-oxychalcogenides (FeO$\emph{Ch}$) series La$_{2}$O$_{2}$Fe$_{2}$O\emph{M}$_{2}$ (\emph{M}=S, Se), which is the latest among the Fe-based materials with the potential \ to show unconventional high-T$_{c}$ superconductivity (HTSC). A combination of incoherent Hubbard features in X-ray absorption (XAS) and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra, as well as resitivity data, reveal that the parent FeO$\emph{Ch}$ are correlation-driven insulators. To uncover microscopics underlying these findings, we perform local density app…
The asymmetric infinite-dimensional periodic Anderson model is examined with a quantum Monte Carlo simulation. For small conduction band filling, we find a severe reduction in the Kondo scale, compared to the impurity value, as well as protracted spin screening consistent with some recent controversial photoemission experiments. The Kondo screening drives a ferromagnetic transition when the conduction band is quarter-filled and both the RKKY and superexchange favor antiferromagnetism. We also find RKKY-driven ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic transitions.
Inspired by the recent experimental evidence of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity coexistence in heavy fermion CeRhIn$_5$, we propose a fully microscopic approach based on the idea of real space pairing within the Anderson-Kondo lattice model. We present an overall phase diagram incorporating the emergence of a quantum critical point, where Kondo insulating (KI), antiferromagnetic (AF) and superconducting (SC) phases meet. We also obtain the Kondo insulating state with totally compensated magnetic moments as the parental state for the emerging SC phases. Furthermore, the coexistent (AF+…
The quasi two-dimensional Mott insulator $α$-RuCl$_3$ is proximate to the sought-after Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL). In a layer of $α$-RuCl$_3$ on graphene the dominant Kitaev exchange is further enhanced by strain. Recently, quantum oscillation (QO) measurements of such $α$-RuCl$_3$ / graphene heterostructures showed an anomalous temperature dependence beyond the standard Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) description. Here, we develop a theory of anomalous QO in an effective Kitaev-Kondo lattice model in which the itinerant electrons of the graphene layer interact with the correlated magnetic layer …
We present magnetic susceptibility, resistivity, specific heat, and thermoelectric power measurements on (Ce$_{1-x}$La$_x$)Cu$_2$Ge$_2$ single crystals (0 $\leq x\leq$ 1). With La substitution, the antiferromagnetic temperature $T_N$ is suppressed in an almost linear fashion and moves below 0.36 K, the base temperature of our measurements for $x>$ 0.8. Surprisingly, in addition to robust antiferromagnetism, the system also shows low temperature coherent scattering below $T_{coh}$ up to $\sim$ 0.9 of La, indicating a small percolation limit $\sim$ 9$\%$ of Ce that separates a coherent regime fr…
Within a mean-field approximation, the ground state and finite temperature phase diagrams of the two-dimensional Kondo lattice model have been carefully studied as functions of the Kondo coupling $J$ and the conduction electron concentration $n_{c}$. In addition to the conventional hybridization between local moments and itinerant electrons, a staggered hybridization is proposed to characterize the interplay between the antiferromagnetism and the Kondo screening effect. As a result, a heavy fermion antiferromagnetic phase is obtained and separated from the pure antiferromagnetic ordered phase …
The half-Heusler compound CuMnSb, the first antiferromagnet (AFM) in the Mn-based class of Heuslers and half-Heuslers that contains several conventional and half metallic ferromagnets, shows a peculiar stability of its magnetic order in high magnetic fields. Density functional based studies reveal an unusual nature of its unstable (and therefore unseen) paramagnetic state, which for one electron less (CuMnSn, for example) would be a zero gap semiconductor (accidentally so) between two sets of very narrow, topologically separate bands of Mn 3d character. The extremely flat Mn 3d bands result fr…
We propose a generalization of the supersymmetric representation of spins with symplectic symmetry, generalizing the rotation group of the spin from SU(2) to SP(N). As a test application of this new representation, we consider two toy models involving a competition of the Kondo effect and antiferromagnetism: a two-impurity model and a frustrated three-impurity model. Exploring an ensemble of L-shaped representations with a fixed number of boxes in their respective Young tableaux, we allow the system to choose which representation is energetically more favorable in each region in parameter spac…
Novel electronic phenomena frequently form in heavy fermions as a consequence of the mutual nature of localization and itineracy of f electrons. On the magnetically ordered side of the heavy fermion phase diagram, f moments are expected to be localized and decoupled from the Fermi surface. It remains ambiguous whether a Kondo lattice can develop inside the magnetically ordered phase. Using spectroscopic imaging with the scanning tunneling microscope, complemented by neutron scattering, x ray absorption spectroscopy, and dynamical mean field theory, we probe the electronic states in the antifer…
The competition between magnetism and Kondo effect is the main effect determining the phase diagram of heavy fermion systems. It gives rise to a quantum critical point which governs the low temperature properties of these materials. However, experimental results made it clear that a fundamental ingredient is missing in this description, namely superconductivity. In this paper we make a step forward in the direction of incorporating superconductivity and study the mutual effects of this phase and antiferromagnetism in the phase diagram of heavy fermion metals. Our approach is based on a Ginzbur…
Recent experiments on quantum criticality in the Ge-substituted heavy-electron material YbRh2Si2 under magnetic field have revealed a possible non-Fermi liquid (NFL) strange metal (SM) state over a finite range of fields at low temperatures, which still remains a puzzle. In the SM region, the zero-field antiferromagnetism is suppressed. Above a critical field, it gives way to a heavy Fermi liquid with Kondo correlation. The T (temperature)-linear resistivity and the T-logarithmic followed by a power-law singularity in the specific heat coefficient at low T, salient NFL behaviours in the SM reg…
The heavy electron Kondo liquid is an emergent state of condensed matter that displays universal behavior independent of material details. Properties of the heavy electron liquid are best probed by NMR Knight shift measurements, which provide a direct measure of the behavior of the heavy electron liquid that emerges below the Kondo lattice coherence temperature as the lattice of local moments hybridizes with the background conduction electrons. Because the transfer of spectral weight between the localized and itinerant electronic degrees of freedom is gradual, the Kondo liquid typically coexis…
The nature of superconductivity in heavy-fermion materials is a subject under intense debate, and controlling this many-body state is central for its eventual understanding. Here, we examine how proximity effects may change this phenomenon, by investigating the effects of an additional metallic layer on the top of a Kondo-lattice, and allowing for pairing in the former. We analyze a bilayer Kondo Lattice Model with an on-site Hubbard interaction, $-U$, on the additional layer, using a mean-field approach. For $U=0$, we notice a drastic change in the density-of-states due to multiple-orbital si…
Pressure-induced superconductivity beyond magnetic quantum criticality in a Kondo ferromagnet
New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Center for Correlated Matter and School of Physics, Zhejiang University（浙江大学物理学院关联物质中心新基石科学实验室）；Hubei Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Materials and Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei Normal University（湖北师范大学材料科学与工程学院光电材料与器件湖北省重点实验室）
Antiferromagnetic Order and Magnetic Frustration in the Honeycomb Heavy-Fermion System Ce(Pt$_{1-x}$Pd$_{x}$)$_6$Al$_3$: $^{27}$Al and $^{195}$Pt NMR Studies
In this paper we introduce an exactly solvable Kondo lattice model without any fine-tuning local gauge symmetry. This model describes itinerant electrons interplaying with a localized magnetic moment via only longitudinal Kondo exchange. Its solvability results from conservation of the localized moment at each site, and is valid for arbitrary lattice geometry and electron filling. A case study on square lattice shows that the ground state is a Néel antiferromagnetic insulator at half-filling. At finite temperature, paramagnetic phases including a Mott insulator and correlated metal are found. …
Field-rigid Ising antiferromagnetism with giant spin-flip fields in Van der Waals UOTe
Washington University in St. Louis（圣路易斯华盛顿大学）；National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室国家高磁场实验室）；Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室中子散射部）；Harvard University（哈佛大学）；National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University（佛罗里达州立大学国家高磁场实验室）
The heavy quasiparticle bands in Kondo materials which originate in the hybridization of f- and conduction electrons exhibit numerous, sometimes coexisting, broken symmetry phases. Most notable are unconventional superconductivity, itinerant small moment antiferromagnetism and hidden order of higher order multipoles of f-electrons which all lead to a gapping of the heavy bands. In rare cases the chemical potential lies within the hybridization gap and the ground state is a Kondo semiconductor without ordering. The dynamical magnetic response of such gapped f-electron systems has been investiga…
Despite more than half a century of studies in heavy-fermion compounds, a full understanding of the various possible magnetic ordering phenomena is still far from complete. Some heavy-fermion materials show so-called hidden-order phases, which are invisible to conventional diffraction techniques. The multipolar moments of the $f$-electrons in their specific crystal field environment play a decisive role in the formation of these phases. Such hidden-order phases have been observed in a variety of compounds containing $4f$ and $5f$ elements, like URu$_2$Si$_2$, NpO$_2$, YbRu$_2$Ge$_2$, and CeB$_…
We present a detailed study of the low temperature and high magnetic field phases in the chemical substitution series URu$_2$Si$_{2-x}$P$_x$ using electrical transport and magnetization in pulsed magnetic fields up to 65T. Within the hidden order region (0 $\ x$$\ $ 0.035) the high field ordering is robust even as the hidden order temperature is suppressed. Earlier work shows that for 0.035 $\ x$ $\ $ 0.26 there is a Kondo lattice with a no-ordered state that is replaced by antiferromagnetism for 0.26 $\ x$ 0.5. We observe a simplified continuation of the high field ordering in the no-order $x…
Single crystals of $R$Cd$_{0.67}$As$_2$ ($R$ = La and Ce) have been synthesized by high temperature ternary melt and their physical properties have been explored by means of magnetization, specific heat, electrical resistivity, Hall coefficient, and thermoelectric power measurements. $R$Cd$_{0.67}$As$_2$ compounds indicate a (structural) phase transition at high temperatures, accompanied by a remarkable increase of the electrical resistivity with an extremely low carrier concentration. CeCd$_{0.67}$As$_2$ exhibits a large magnetic anisotropy and an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order below $T_{N} = …
From the electrical resistivity and ac susceptibility measurements down to $T$ = 40 mK, a rich temperature-field phase diagram has been constructed for the geometrically frustrated heavy-fermion compound CePdAl. In the limit of zero temperature, the field-induced suppression of the antiferromagnetism in this compound results in a sequence of phase transitions/corssovers, rather than a single critical point, in a critical region of field 3$-$5 T. In the lowest temperature region, a power-law description of the temperature-dependent resistivity yields $A$$\cdot$$T^n$ with $n$$>$2 for all applied…
We obtain the conditions necessary for the emergence of various low temperature ordered states (local moment antiferromagnetism, unconventional superconductivity, quantum criticality, and Landau Fermi liquid behavior) in Kondo lattice materials by extending the two-fluid phenomenological theory of heavy electron behavior to incorporate the concept of hybridization effectiveness. We use this expanded framework to present a new phase digram and consistent physical explanation and quantitative description of measured emergent behaviors such as the pressure variation of the onset of local moment a…
We study a model of fermions on the square lattice at half-filling coupled to an Ising gauge theory, that was recently shown in Monte Carlo simulations to exhibit $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order and massless Dirac fermion excitations. On tuning parameters, a confining phase with broken symmetry (an antiferromagnet in one choice of Hamiltonian) was also established, and the transition between these phases was found to be continuous, with co-incident onset of symmetry breaking and confinement. While the confinement transition in pure gauge theories is well understood in terms of condensing magn…
Motivated by pressure experiments on FeAs-122 superconductors, we propose a scenario based on local-moment physics to explain the simultaneous disappearance of magnetism, reduction of the unit cell volume, and decrease in resistivity. In this scenario, the low-pressure magnetic phase derives from Fe moments, which become screened in the paramagnetic high-pressure phase. The quantum phase transition can be described as an orbital-selective Mott transition, which is rendered first order by coupling to the lattice, in analogy to a Kondo volume collapse. Spin-fluctuation driven superconductivity c…
Quantum criticality describes the collective fluctuations of matter undergoing a second-order phase transition at zero temperature. It is being discussed in a number of strongly correlated electron systems. A prototype case occurs in the heavy fermion metals, in which antiferromagnetic quantum critical points have been explicitly observed. Here, I address two types of antiferromagnetic quantum critical points. In addition to the standard description based on the fluctuations of the antiferromagnetic order, a local quantum critical point is also considered. It contains inherently quantum modes …
Searching for high-performance thermoelectric (TE) materials in the paradigm of narrow-bandgap semiconductors has lasted for nearly 70 years and is obviously hampered by a bottleneck of research now. Here we report on the discovery of a few metallic compounds, TiFexCu2x-1Sb and TiFe1.33Sb, showing the thermopower exceeding many TE semiconductors and the dimensionless figure of merits comparable with the state-of-the-art TE materials. A quasi-linear temperature (T) dependence of electrical resistivity in 2 K - 700 K and the logarithmic T-dependent electronic specific heat at low temperature are…
A key issue in heavy fermion research is how subtle changes in the hybridization between the 4$f$ (5$f$) and conduction electrons can result in fundamentally different ground states. CeRhIn$_5$ stands out as a particularly notable example: replacing Rh by either Co or Ir, located above or below Rh in the periodic table, antiferromagnetism gives way to superconductivity. In this photoemission study of CeRhIn$_5$, we demonstrate that the use of resonant ARPES with polarized light allows to extract detailed information on the 4$f$ crystal field states and details on the 4$f$ and conduction electr…
