Theory of Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy: from Kondo Impurities to Heavy Fermion Materials

Abstract

Kondo systems ranging from the single Kondo impurity to heavy fermion materials present us with a plethora of unconventional properties whose theoretical understanding is still one of the major open problems in condensed matter physics. Over the last few years, groundbreaking scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) experiments have provided unprecedented new insight into the electronic structure of Kondo systems. Interpreting the results of these experiments -- the differential conductance and the quasi-particle interference spectrum -- however, has been complicated by the fact that electrons tunneling from the STS tip into the system can tunnel either into the heavy magnetic moment or the light conduction band states. In this article, we briefly review the theoretical progress made in understanding how quantum interference between these two tunneling paths affects the experimental STS results. We show how this theoretical insight has allowed us to interpret the results of STS experiments on a series of heavy fermion materials providing detailed knowledge of their complex electronic structure. It is this knowledge that is a conditio sine qua non for developing a deeper understanding of the fascinating properties exhibited by heavy fermion materials, ranging from unconventional superconductivity to non-Fermi-liquid behavior in the vicinity of quantum critical points.

Brief review article published in Reports on Progress in Physics in a special issue on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems. This is the author-created, un-copyedited version

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Phase diagram and dynamics of the SU($\mathbf{N}$) symmetric Kondo lattice model
• Quantum-well states at the surface of the heavy-fermion superconductor URu${}_2$Si${}_2$
• Electronic spectra with paramagnon fractionalization in the single band Hubbard model
• Theory of differential conductance of Co on Cu(111) including Co s and d orbitals, and surface and bulk Cu states
• Breakdown of heavy quasiparticles in a honeycomb Kondo lattice: A quantum Monte Carlo study
• Topological quantum phase transition in individual Fe Atoms on MoS${}_2$/Au(111)
• Structural and electrical characterization of the monolayer Kondo-lattice compound CePt${}_6$/Pt(111)
• SU($\mathbf{N}$) Kondo-Heisenberg chain: Phase diagram, Ising criticality, and the coexistence of heavy quasiparticles and valence bond solid order
• One-dimensional moire charge density wave in the hidden order state of URu2Si2 induced by fracture