Weak electron correlations and itinerant electrons in : A high-resolution ARPES and DFT study
Phys. Rev. B 112, 205109 – Published 7 November, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/8jss-xdxp
Abstract
Uranium compounds have long been of significant interest in condensed matter physics due to their diverse and often exotic properties, including heavy-fermion behavior, non-Fermi-liquid characteristics, quantum criticality, and unconventional superconductivity. These phenomena arise from the complex interplay between crystal structure, hybridization of localized electrons with conduction electrons, and electron-electron correlations. Here, we present a comprehensive study of the electronic structure of , a layered uranium intermetallic compound, using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Three-dimensional electronic structure of was systematically studied and fine structures of the bands near the Fermi energy were clearly resolved. Our results reveal that exhibits a predominantly itinerant nature of electrons, with strong band dispersion and significant contributions to the Fermi surface. Theoretical calculations assuming itinerant electrons are in excellent agreement with the experimental ARPES data, confirming the weak electron correlation effects in this compound. Temperature-dependent ARPES measurements further demonstrate that the electrons retain itinerant across the studied temperature range (7.5 to 100 K).