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Recently, evidence for a conducting surface state (CSS) below 19 K was reported for the correlatedd-electron small gap semiconductor FeSi. In the work reported herein, the CSS and the bulk phase of FeSi were probed via electrical resistivity ρ measurements as a function of temperatureT, magnetic fieldBto 60 T, and pressurePto 7.6 GPa, and by means of a magnetic field-modulated microwave spectroscopy (MFMMS) technique. The properties of FeSi were also compared with those of the Kondo insulator SmB₆to address the question of whether FeSi is ad-electron analogue of anf-electron Kondo insulator and, in addition, a “topological Kondo insulator” (TKI). The overall behavior of the magnetoresistance of FeSi at temperatures above and below the onset temperatureT_S= 19 K of the CSS is similar to that of SmB₆. The two energy gaps, inferred from the ρ(T) data in the semiconducting regime, increase with pressure up to about 7 GPa, followed by a drop which coincides with a sharp suppression ofT_S. Several studies of ρ(T) under pressure on SmB₆reveal behavior similar to that of FeSi in which the two energy gaps vanish at a critical pressure near the pressure at whichT_Svanishes, although the energy gaps in SmB₆initially decrease with pressure, whereas in FeSi they increase with pressure. The MFMMS measurements showed a sharp feature atT_S≈ 19 K for FeSi, which could be due to ferromagnetic ordering of the CSS. However, no such feature was observed atT_S≈ 4.5 K for SmB₆.

Electrical resistivity measurements were performed on single crystals of URu_2–xOs_xSi₂up tox= 0.28 under hydrostatic pressure up toP= 2 GPa. As the Os concentration,x, is increased, 1) the lattice expands, creating an effective negative chemical pressureP_ch(x); 2) the hidden-order (HO) phase is enhanced and the system is driven toward a large-moment antiferromagnetic (LMAFM) phase; and 3) less external pressureP_cis required to induce the HO→LMAFM phase transition. We compare the behavior of theT(x,P) phase boundary reported here for the URu_2-xOs_xSi₂system with previous reports of enhanced HO in URu₂Si₂upon tuning withPor similarly in URu_2–xFe_xSi₂upon tuning with positiveP_ch(x). It is noteworthy that pressure, Fe substitution, and Os substitution are the only known perturbations that enhance the HO phase and induce the first-order transition to the LMAFM phase in URu₂Si₂. We present a scenario in which the application of pressure or the isoelectronic substitution of Fe and Os ions for Ru results in an increase in the hybridization of the U-5f-electron and transition metald-electron states which leads to electronic instability in the paramagnetic phase and the concurrent formation of HO (and LMAFM) in URu₂Si₂. Calculations in the tight-binding approximation are included to determine the strength of hybridization between the U-5f-electron states and thed-electron states of Ru and its isoelectronic Fe and Os substituents in URu₂Si₂.

Using polarized optical and magneto-optical spectroscopy, we have demonstrated universal aspects of electrodynamics associated with Dirac nodal lines that are found in several classes of unconventional intermetallic compounds. We investigated anisotropic electrodynamics of${\mathrm{N}\mathrm{b}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}}_2$where the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) triggers energy gaps along the nodal lines. These gaps manifest as sharp steps in the optical conductivity spectra${\sigma }_1\left(\omega \right)$. This behavior is followed by the linear power-law scaling of${\sigma }_1\left(\omega \right)$at higher frequencies, consistent with our theoretical analysis for dispersive Dirac nodal lines. Magneto-optics data affirm the dominant role of nodal lines in the electrodynamics of${\mathrm{N}\mathrm{b}\mathrm{A}\mathrm{s}}_2$.