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Title: Magnetic field-tuned Fermi liquid in a Kondo insulator

Abstract

Kondo insulators are expected to transform into metals under a sufficiently strong magnetic field. The closure of the insulating gap stems from the coupling of a magnetic field to the electron spin, yet the required strength of the magnetic field–typically of order 100 T–means that very little is known about this insulator-metal transition. Here we show that Ce3Bi4Pd3, owing to its fortuitously small gap, provides an ideal Kondo insulator for this investigation. A metallic Fermi liquid state is established above a critical magnetic field of only Bc ≈ 11 T. A peak in the strength of electronic correlations near Bc, which is evident in transport and susceptibility measurements, suggests that Ce3Bi4Pd3 may exhibit quantum criticality analogous to that reported in Kondo insulators under pressure. Metamagnetism and the breakdown of the Kondo coupling are also discussed.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; State of Florida
OSTI Identifier:
1619599
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1603991; OSTI ID: 1779668
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-25216; LA-UR-19-25217
Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723; 5487; PII: 13421
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Volume: 10 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; High Magnetic Field Science; Kondo insulator; Fermi liquid; High magnetic field

Citation Formats

Kushwaha, Satya K., Chan, Mun K., Park, Joonbum, Thomas, S. M., Bauer, Eric D., Thompson, J. D., Ronning, F., Rosa, Priscila F. S., and Harrison, Neil. Magnetic field-tuned Fermi liquid in a Kondo insulator. United Kingdom: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13421-w.
Kushwaha, Satya K., Chan, Mun K., Park, Joonbum, Thomas, S. M., Bauer, Eric D., Thompson, J. D., Ronning, F., Rosa, Priscila F. S., & Harrison, Neil. Magnetic field-tuned Fermi liquid in a Kondo insulator. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13421-w
Kushwaha, Satya K., Chan, Mun K., Park, Joonbum, Thomas, S. M., Bauer, Eric D., Thompson, J. D., Ronning, F., Rosa, Priscila F. S., and Harrison, Neil. Mon . "Magnetic field-tuned Fermi liquid in a Kondo insulator". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13421-w.
@article{osti_1619599,
title = {Magnetic field-tuned Fermi liquid in a Kondo insulator},
author = {Kushwaha, Satya K. and Chan, Mun K. and Park, Joonbum and Thomas, S. M. and Bauer, Eric D. and Thompson, J. D. and Ronning, F. and Rosa, Priscila F. S. and Harrison, Neil},
abstractNote = {Kondo insulators are expected to transform into metals under a sufficiently strong magnetic field. The closure of the insulating gap stems from the coupling of a magnetic field to the electron spin, yet the required strength of the magnetic field–typically of order 100 T–means that very little is known about this insulator-metal transition. Here we show that Ce3Bi4Pd3, owing to its fortuitously small gap, provides an ideal Kondo insulator for this investigation. A metallic Fermi liquid state is established above a critical magnetic field of only Bc ≈ 11 T. A peak in the strength of electronic correlations near Bc, which is evident in transport and susceptibility measurements, suggests that Ce3Bi4Pd3 may exhibit quantum criticality analogous to that reported in Kondo insulators under pressure. Metamagnetism and the breakdown of the Kondo coupling are also discussed.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-019-13421-w},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 10,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {2019},
month = {12}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13421-w

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Cited by: 11 works
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