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The resurgence of interest in Kondo insulators has been driven by two major mysteries: the presence of metallic surface states and the observation of quantum oscillations. To further explore these mysteries, it is crucial to investigate another similar system beyond the two existing ones, SmB6and YbB12. Here, we address this by reporting on a Kondo insulator, U3Bi4Ni3. Our transport measurements reveal that a surface state emerges below 250 kelvin and dominates transport properties below 150 kelvin, which is well above the temperature scale of SmB6and YbB12. At low temperatures, the surface conductivity is about one order of magnitude higher than the bulk. The robustness of the surface state indicates that it is inherently protected. The similarities and differences between U3Bi4Ni3and the other two Kondo insulators will provide valuable insights into the nature of metallic surface states in Kondo insulators and their interplay with strong electron correlations.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available March 21, 2026
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Abstract Chiral superconductors have been proposed as one pathway to realize Majorana normal fluid at its boundary. However, the long-sought 2D and 3D chiral superconductors with edge and surface Majorana normal fluid are yet to be conclusively found. Here, we report evidence for a chiral spin-triplet pairing state of UTe2with surface normal fluid response. The microwave surface impedance of the UTe2crystal was measured and converted to complex conductivity, which is sensitive to both normal and superfluid responses. The anomalous residual normal fluid conductivity supports the presence of a significant normal fluid response. The superfluid conductivity follows the temperature behavior predicted for an axial spin-triplet state, which is further narrowed down to a chiral spin-triplet state with evidence of broken time-reversal symmetry. Further analysis excludes trivial origins for the observed normal fluid response. Our findings suggest that UTe2can be a new platform to study exotic topological excitations in higher dimension.more » « less
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