Tunable unconventional Kondo effect on topological insulator surfaces

Abstract

We study Kondo physics of a spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ impurity in electronic matter with strong spin-orbit interaction, which can be realized by depositing magnetic adatoms on the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator. We show that magnetic properties of topological surface states and the very existence of Kondo screening strongly depend on details of the bulk material, and specifics of surface preparation encoded in time-reversal preserving boundary conditions for electronic wavefunctions. When this tunable Kondo effect occurs, the impurity spin is screened by purely orbital motion of surface electrons. This mechanism gives rise to a transverse magnetic response of the surface metal, and spin textures that can be used to experimentally probe signatures of a Kondo resonance. Our predictions are particularly relevant for STM measurements in $\mathrm{PbTe}$-class crystalline topological insulators, but we also discuss implications for other classes of topological materials.

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• A generalization of Bloch's theorem for arbitrary boundary conditions: Theory
• Topological phases of topological insulator thin films
• Interface symmetry and spin control in topological insulator-semiconductor heterostructures
• Spatial structure of correlations around a quantum impurity at the edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator
• Kekulé Induced Valley Birefringence and Skew Scattering in Graphene
• Conductance of gated junctions as a probe of topological interface states
• Rashba induced Kondo screening of a magnetic impurity in two-dimensional superconductor
• Proximity-Induced Superconductivity at Non-Helical Topological Insulator Interfaces
• Andreev spectroscopy of nonhelical spin textures in topological insulators
• Spin relaxation and the Kondo effect in transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers
• Tunable magnetic anisotropy from higher-harmonics exchange scattering on the surface of a topological insulator