Non-Kondo-like Electronic Structure in the Correlated Rare-Earth Hexaboride YbB${}_6$

Abstract

We present angle-resolved photoemission studies on the rare-earth hexaboride YbB${}_6$, which has recently been predicted to be a topological Kondo insulator. Our data do not agree with the prediction and instead show that YbB${}_6$ exhibits a novel topological insulator state in the absence of a Kondo mechanism. We find that the Fermi level electronic structure of YbB${}_6$ has three 2D Dirac cone like surface states enclosing the Kramers' points, while the f-orbital which would be relevant for the Kondo mechanism is $\sim 1$ eV below the Fermi level. Our first-principles calculation shows that the topological state which we observe in YbB${}_6$ is due to an inversion between Yb $d$ and B $p$ bands. These experimental and theoretical results provide a new approach for realizing novel correlated topological insulator states in rare-earth materials.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures, Submitted in 2014. Published in 2015, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 016403

References in corpus (17)

• Topological Insulators
• Topological insulators and superconductors
• Topological Insulators with Inversion Symmetry
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• A topological Dirac insulator in a quantum spin Hall phase : Experimental observation of first strong topological insulator
• Observation of a topological 3D Dirac semimetal phase in high-mobility Cd3As2
• Topological Kondo Insulators
• Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators
• Surface electronic structure of the topological Kondo insulator candidate correlated electron system SmB6
• Low-temperature surface conduction in the Kondo insulator SmB${}_6$
• Correlated Topological Insulators with Mixed Valence
• Topological surface state in the Kondo Insulator Samarium Hexaboride
• Robust Surface Hall Effect and Nonlocal Transport in SmB6: Indication for an Ideal Topological Insulator
• Observation of in-gap surface states in the Kondo insulator SmB6 by photoemission
• Surface and Bulk Electronic Structure of the Strongly Correlated System SmB${}_6$ and Implications for a Topological Kondo Insulator
• Topological Crystalline Kondo Insulator in Mixed Valence Ytterbium Borides
• Hybridization, Inter-Ion Correlation, and Surface States in the Kondo Insulator SmB6

Cited by in corpus (20)

• Colloquium: Topological Band Theory
• Observation of Topological Nodal Fermion Semimetal Phase in ZrSiS
• Observation of topological nodal-line fermionic phase in GdSbTe
• Quantum phases of interacting electrons in three-dimensional dirty Dirac semimetals
• Observation of the spin-polarized surface state in a noncentrosymmetric superconductor BiPd
• Fermi Surface Topology and Hotspots Distribution in Kondo Lattice System CeB6
• Observation of Dirac-Like Semi-Metallic Phase in NdSb
• Electronic structure of YbB${}_6$: Is it a Topological Insulator or not?
• Pressure-induced quantum phase transitions in topological insulator YbB6
• Two distinct topological phases in the mixed valence compound YbB6 and its differences from SmB6
• Excitonic and Nematic Instabilities on the Surface of Topological Kondo Insulators
• Comparative study of rare earth hexaborides using high resolution angle-resolved photoemission
• Topological Charge/spin density Wave in InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells under an In-plane Magnetic Field
• Surface resonance of the (2$\times$1) reconstructed lanthanum hexaboride (001)-cleavage plane: a combined STM and DFT study
• Quantum chemical insights into hexaboride electronic structures: correlations within the boron $p$-orbital subsystem
• Interacting topological phases in thin films of topological mirror Kondo insulators
• Spontaneous symmetry breaking and quantum Hall valley ordering on the surface of topological hexaborides
• Exploring itinerant states in divalent hexaborides using rare-earth $L$ edge resonant inelastic X-ray scattering
• Nanoscale Conducting and Insulating Domains on YbB${}_6$
• Discovery of magnetic topological crystals