Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Richmond, British Columbia V6X 3X7, Canada.
Phys Rev Lett. 2019 Nov 8;123(19):197203. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.197203.
By means of new muon spin relaxation experiments, we disentangle extrinsic and intrinsic sources of low-temperature bulk magnetism in the candidate topological Kondo insulator (TKI) SmB_{6}. Results on Al-flux-grown SmB_{6} single crystals are compared to those on a large floating-zone-grown ^{154}Sm ^{11}B_{6} single crystal in which a 14 meV bulk spin exciton has been detected by inelastic neutron scattering. Below ∼10 K, we detect the gradual development of quasistatic magnetism due to rare-earth impurities and Sm vacancies. Our measurements also reveal two additional forms of intrinsic magnetism: (1) underlying low-energy (∼100 meV) weak magnetic moment (∼10^{-2} μ_{B}) fluctuations similar to those detected in the related candidate TKI YbB_{12} that persist down to millikelvin temperatures, and (2) magnetic fluctuations consistent with a 2.6 meV bulk magnetic excitation at zero magnetic field that appears to hinder surface conductivity above ∼4.5 K. We discuss potential origins of the magnetism.
通过新的μ子自旋弛豫实验,我们在候选拓扑 Kondo 绝缘体 (TKI) SmB_{6}中分解了低温体磁的外在和内在来源。我们比较了 Al 通量生长的 SmB_{6}单晶的结果和通过非弹性中子散射检测到 14 meV 体自旋激子的大型浮区生长的 ^{154}Sm ^{11}B_{6}单晶的结果。在 ∼10 K 以下,我们由于稀土杂质和 Sm 空位而检测到准静态磁的逐渐发展。我们的测量还揭示了两种额外的内在磁性:(1)基础的低能(∼100 meV)弱磁矩(∼10^{-2} μ_{B})波动类似于在相关候选 TKI YbB_{12}中检测到的波动,这些波动一直持续到毫开尔文温度,以及(2)在零磁场下与 2.6 meV 体磁激发一致的磁波动,这似乎阻碍了在 ∼4.5 K 以上的表面导电性。我们讨论了磁性的潜在起源。