1,261 research outputs found
Evolution from a nodeless gap to d(x2-y2) form in underdoped La(2-x)SrxCuO4
Using angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES), it is revealed that the
low-energy electronic excitation spectra of highly underdoped superconducting
and non-superconducting La(2-x)SrxCuO4 cuprates are gapped along the entire
underlying Fermi surface at low temperatures. We show how the gap function
evolves to a d(x2-y2) form as increasing temperature or doping, consistent with
the vast majority of ARPES studies of cuprates. Our results provide essential
information for uncovering the symmetry of the order parameter(s) in strongly
underdoped cuprates, which is a prerequisite for understanding the pairing
mechanism and how superconductivity emerges from a Mott insulator.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Exotic Kondo crossover in a wide temperature region in the topological Kondo insulator SmB6 revealed by high-resolution ARPES
Temperature dependence of the electronic structure of SmB6 is studied by
high-resolution ARPES down to 1 K. We demonstrate that there is no essential
difference for the dispersions of the surface states below and above the
resistivity saturating anomaly (~ 3.5 K). Quantitative analyses of the surface
states indicate that the quasi-particle scattering rate increases linearly as a
function of temperature and binding energy, which differs from Fermi-Liquid
behavior. Most intriguingly, we observe that the hybridization between the d
and f states builds gradually over a wide temperature region (30 K < T < 110
K). The surface states appear when the hybridization starts to develop. Our
detailed temperature-dependence results give a complete interpretation of the
exotic resistivity result of SmB6, as well as the discrepancies among
experimental results concerning the temperature regions in which the
topological surface states emerge and the Kondo gap opens, and give new
insights into the exotic Kondo crossover and its relationship with the
topological surface states in the topological Kondo insulator SmB6.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Direct observation of the spin texture in strongly correlated SmB6 as evidence of the topological Kondo insulator
The concept of a topological Kondo insulator (TKI) has been brought forward
as a new class of topological insulators in which non-trivial surface states
reside in the bulk Kondo band gap at low temperature due to the strong
spin-orbit coupling [1-3]. In contrast to other three-dimensional (3D)
topological insulators (e.g. Bi2Se3), a TKI is truly insulating in the bulk
[4]. Furthermore, strong electron correlations are present in the system, which
may interact with the novel topological phase. Applying spin- and
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES) to the Kondo insulator SmB6,
a promising TKI candidate, we reveal that the surface states of SmB6 are spin
polarized, and the spin is locked to the crystal momentum. Counter-propagating
states (i.e. at k and -k) have opposite spin polarizations protected by
time-reversal symmetry. Together with the odd number of Fermi surfaces of
surface states between the 4 time-reversal invariant momenta in the surface
Brillouin zone [5], these findings prove, for the first time, that SmB6 can
host non-trivial topological surface states in a full insulating gap in the
bulk stemming from the Kondo effect. Hence our experimental results establish
that SmB6 is the first realization of a 3D TKI. It can also serve as an ideal
platform for the systematic study of the interplay between novel topological
quantum states with emergent effects and competing order induced by strongly
correlated electrons.Comment: 4 figure
Fermionic response from fractionalization in an insulating two-dimensional magnet
Conventionally ordered magnets possess bosonic elementary excitations, called
magnons. By contrast, no magnetic insulators in more than one dimension are
known whose excitations are not bosons but fermions. Theoretically, some
quantum spin liquids (QSLs) -- new topological phases which can occur when
quantum fluctuations preclude an ordered state -- are known to exhibit Majorana
fermions as quasiparticles arising from fractionalization of spins. Alas,
despite much searching, their experimental observation remains elusive. Here,
we show that fermionic excitations are remarkably directly evident in
experimental Raman scattering data across a broad energy and temperature range
in the two-dimensional material -RuCl. This shows the importance of
magnetic materials as hosts of Majorana fermions. In turn, this first
systematic evaluation of the dynamics of a QSL at finite temperature emphasizes
the role of excited states for detecting such exotic properties associated with
otherwise hard-to-identify topological QSLs.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
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