4f Crystal Field Ground State of the Strongly Correlated Topological Insulator SmB6

M. Sundermann, H. Yavaş, K. Chen, D. J. Kim, Z. Fisk, D. Kasinathan, M. W. Haverkort, P. Thalmeier, A. Severing, and L. H. Tjeng
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 016402 – Published 5 January 2018
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

We investigated the crystal-electric field ground state of the 4f manifold in the strongly correlated topological insulator SmB6 using core-level nonresonant inelastic x-ray scattering. The directional dependence of the scattering function that arises from higher multipole transitions establishes unambiguously that the Γ8 quartet state of the Sm f5J=5/2 configuration governs the ground-state symmetry and, hence, the topological properties of SmB6. Our findings contradict the results of density functional calculations reported so far.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 20 June 2017
  • Revised 25 September 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.016402

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

M. Sundermann1,2, H. Yavaş3, K. Chen1,‡, D. J. Kim4, Z. Fisk4, D. Kasinathan2, M. W. Haverkort5, P. Thalmeier2, A. Severing1,2,*, and L. H. Tjeng2,†

  • 1Institute of Physics II, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 77, 50937 Cologne, Germany
  • 2Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, 01187 Dresden, Germany
  • 3PETRA III, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Notkestraße 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany
  • 4Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA
  • 5Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University, Philosophenweg 19, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

  • *Corresponding author. severing@ph2.uni-koeln.de
  • Corresponding author. Hao.Tjeng@cpfs.mpg.de
  • Present address: Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin, BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cédex, France.

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 120, Iss. 1 — 5 January 2018

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×