Itinerant to relocalized transition of felectrons in the Kondo insulator CeRu_(4)Sn_(6)

The three-dimensional electronic structure and the nature of Ce 4f electrons of the Kondo insulator CeRu_(4)Sn_(6)are investigated by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy,utilizing tunable photon energies.Our results reveal(i)the three-dimensional k-space nature of the Fermi surface,(ii)the localized-to-itinerant transition of f electrons occurs at a much high temperature than the hybridization gap opening temperature,and(iii)the“relocalization”of itinerant f-electrons below 25 K,which could be the precursor to the establishment of magnetic order.

Quantum phase transition and destruction of Kondo effect in pressurized SmB6

SmB_6 has been a well-known Kondo insulator for decades, but recently attracts extensive new attention as a candidate topological system. Studying SmB_6 under pressure provides an opportunity to acquire the much-needed understanding about the effect of electron correlations on both the metallic surface state and bulk insulating state. Here we do so by studying the evolution of two transport gaps(low temperature gap E_l and high temperature gap E_h) associated with the Kondo effect by measuring the electrical resistivity under high pressure and low temperature(0.3 K) conditions. We associate the gaps with the bulk Kondo hybridization, and from their evolution with pressure we demonstrate an insulator-tometal transition at ~4 GPa. At the transition pressure, a large change in the Hall number and a divergence tendency of the electron-electron scattering coefficient provide evidence for a destruction of the Kondo entanglement in the ground state. Our results raise the new prospect for studying topological electronic states in quantum critical materials settings.