Direct observation of the spin texture in SmB6 as evidence of the topological Kondo insulator

N. Xu (), P. K. Biswas, J. H. Dil, R. S. Dhaka, G. Landolt, S. Muff, C. E. Matt, X. Shi, N. C. Plumb, M. Radović, E. Pomjakushina, K. Conder, A. Amato, S. V. Borisenko, R. Yu, H.-M. Weng, Z. Fang, X. Dai, J. Mesot, H. Ding and M. Shi ()
Additional contact information
N. Xu: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
P. K. Biswas: Laboratory for Muon Spin Spectroscopy, Paul Scherrer Institut
J. H. Dil: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
R. S. Dhaka: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
G. Landolt: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
S. Muff: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
C. E. Matt: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
X. Shi: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
N. C. Plumb: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
M. Radović: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
E. Pomjakushina: Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut
K. Conder: Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut
A. Amato: Laboratory for Muon Spin Spectroscopy, Paul Scherrer Institut
S. V. Borisenko: Institute for Solid State Research, IFW Dresden
R. Yu: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
H.-M. Weng: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Z. Fang: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
X. Dai: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
J. Mesot: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut
H. Ding: Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
M. Shi: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-5

Abstract: Abstract Topological Kondo insulators have been proposed 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 strong spin–orbit coupling. In contrast to other three-dimensional topological insulators, a topological Kondo insulator is truly bulk insulating. Furthermore, strong electron correlations are present in the system, which may interact with the novel topological phase. By applying spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, here we show that the surface states of SmB6 are spin polarized. The spin is locked to the crystal momentum, fulfilling time reversal and crystal symmetries. Our results provide strong evidence that SmB6 can host topological surface states in a bulk insulating gap stemming from the Kondo effect, which can serve as an ideal platform for investigating of the interplay between novel topological quantum states with emergent effects and competing orders induced by strongly correlated electrons.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5566

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