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Thesis High-Resolution Photoemission Study of Kondo Insulators ...

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low-temperature and low-energy electronic structure <strong>of</strong> FeSi and recovers the DOS in<br />

the vicinity <strong>of</strong> EF , consistent with the optical conductivity and the dc conductivity.<br />

A systematic substitution effect on FeSi has been studied thoroughly in FeSi1−xAlx.<br />

The depression in the vicinity <strong>of</strong> the Fermi level (∼ −20 meV) is filled with a small<br />

amount <strong>of</strong> Al substitution (Fig. 9.2 (b)) and temperature increase. The pseudogap<br />

region (∼ −50 meV) depends on the temperature and the Al substitution (Fig. 9.2<br />

(c)). The shoulder around ∼−100 meV, which may correspond to the <strong>Kondo</strong> peak in<br />

4f-electron systems, depends on the Al substitution up to x = 0.30 (Fig. 9.2 (b)) and<br />

such substitution dependence <strong>of</strong> the shoulder is enhanced at higher temperature. The<br />

broad peak at ∼−400 meV is stable against both temperature and substitution.<br />

A clear difference between YbB12 and FeSi appears in the substitution dependence.<br />

The disappearance <strong>of</strong> the gap has been observed at x ∼ 0.25-0.5 in Yb1−xLuxB12 and<br />

x ∼ 0.1 in FeSi1−xAlx. These critical concentrations (xc) are consistent with the transport<br />

properties. The rapid collapse <strong>of</strong> the gap with substitution indicates the importance<br />

<strong>of</strong> the intersite interaction for the gap opening in FeSi. While the gap in<br />

Yb1−xLuxB12, which survives up to x ∼ 0.25-0.50, reflects the localized character <strong>of</strong><br />

the 4f states, the x-nonlinearity <strong>of</strong> the substitution dependence <strong>of</strong> the photoemission<br />

spectra indicates an effect <strong>of</strong> the intersite interaction in the gap formation for YbB12.<br />

The difference in xc might be one <strong>of</strong> the origin <strong>of</strong> the relatively high residual DOS for<br />

FeSi: At and around the scraped surface, where the atomic coordination is not perfect,<br />

the gap character would be more robust for YbB12.<br />

The relation between the peak position in the photoemission spectra and Tmax, where<br />

the magnetic susceptibility shows a maximum, is different between YbB12 and FeSi.<br />

The sharp <strong>Kondo</strong> peak, which is observed in the Yb <strong>Kondo</strong> systems, does not appear in<br />

FeSi. However, the substitution dependence <strong>of</strong> the spectra <strong>of</strong> FeSi at low temperatures<br />

resembles that <strong>of</strong> YbB12 and is reminiscent <strong>of</strong> the hybridization gap model.<br />

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