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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Correlation induced magnetic topological phases in the mixed-valence compound SmB6

Huimei Liu1,2, Moritz M. Hirschmann2, George A. Sawatzky3,4, Giniyat Khaliullin2, and Andreas P. Schnyder2

  • 1Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics and Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstr. 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany
  • 2Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver B.C. V6T 1Z1, Canada
  • 4Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver B.C. V6T 1Z4, Canada

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042028 – Published 27 November, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L042028

Abstract

SmB6 is a mixed-valence compound with flat f-electron bands that have a propensity to magnetism. Here, using a realistic Γ8 quartet model, we investigate the dynamical spin susceptibility and describe the in-gap collective mode observed in neutron scattering experiments. We show that as the Sm valence increases with pressure, the magnetic correlations enhance and SmB6 undergoes a first-order phase transition into a metallic antiferromagnetic state, whose symmetry depends on the model parameters. The magnetic orderings give rise to distinct band topologies: while the A-type order leads to an overlap between valence and conduction bands in the form of Dirac nodal lines, the G-type order has a negative indirect gap with weak Z2 indices. We also consider the spin polarized phase under a strong magnetic field, and find that it exhibits Weyl points as well as nodal lines close to the Fermi level. The magnetic phases show markedly different surface states and tunable bulk transport properties, with important implications for experiments. Our theory predicts that a magnetic order can be stabilized also by lifting the Γ8 cubic symmetry, thus explaining the surface magnetism reported in SmB6.

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L042028– Published 27 November, 2023
  • Received 4 May 2023
  • Revised 25 September 2023
  • Accepted 7 November 2023
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.

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