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- Title
Evidence for large thermodynamic signatures of in-gap fermionic quasiparticle states in a Kondo insulator.
- Authors
Yang, Zhuo; Marcenat, Christophe; Kim, Sunghoon; Imajo, Shusaku; Kimata, Motoi; Nomura, Toshihiro; Muer, Albin; Maude, Duncan K.; Iga, Fumitoshi; Klein, Thierry; Chowdhury, Debanjan; Kohama, Yoshimitsu
- Abstract
The mixed-valence compound YbB12 displays paradoxical quantum oscillations in electrical resistivity and magnetic torque in a regime with a well-developed insulating charge gap and in the absence of an electronic Fermi surface. However, signatures of such unusual fermionic quasiparticles in other bulk thermodynamic observables have been missing. Here we report the observation of a series of sharp double-peak features in the specific heat as a function of the magnetic field. The measured Hall resistivity evolves smoothly across the field values at which the characteristic anomalies appear in the thermodynamic response and rules out the possibility of conventional electrons as their origin. Our observations of thermodynamic anomalies in a bulk three-dimensional electrical insulator provide the evidence for the presence of emergent dispersing fermionic excitations within the insulating bulk, which sets the stage for further investigation of electron fractionalization in other correlated mixed-valence compounds. Reports of quantum oscillations in the absence of an electronic Fermi surface in Kondo insulator candidates such as SmB6 and YbB12 have been under intense study. Here the authors report the thermodynamic properties of YbB12 in a magnetic field pointing to the presence of in-gap fermionic excitations.
- Subjects
THERMODYNAMICS; MAGNETIC torque; ENTHALPY; FERMI surfaces; MAGNETIC fields
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2024, Vol 15, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-52017-x