Structural instability at the In-terminated surface of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeIrIn5
Journal article, 2022
Driven by reconstruction and relaxation, by the appearance of surface electron states and resonances, the surface properties and related temperature scales of strongly correlated f-materials may differ dramatically from those in the bulk. Applying low energy electron and photoelectron diffraction techniques, momentum-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, we demonstrate that the In-terminated surface of the heavyfermion superconductor CeIrIn5 experiences a reconstruction with a (root 2v x root 2)R45 degrees ordered structure. The latter appears due to the displacement of In atoms with respect to the Ir sublattice. We show that the electronic structure and related properties of the reconstructed In surface differ remarkably from the unreconstructed case. Namely, the predicted surface states with Rashba-type spin splitting do not appear. Our results suggest surface instabilities in similar quasi-two-dimensional strongly correlated f-materials, for which surface reconstructions can be unveiled by means of diffraction techniques.
Electronic structure
Ab initio calculations
Photoelectron diffraction
Atomic structure
Heavy fermion
Surface state
Author
Artem V. Tarasov
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Max Mende
Technische Universität Dresden
Khadiza Ali
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Quantum Device Physics
Georg Poelchen
Technische Universität Dresden
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)
Susanne Schulz
Technische Universität Dresden
oleg Yu. Vilkov
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Kirill A. Bokai
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Matthias Muntwiler
Paul Scherrer Institut
Vladislav Mandic
Goethe University Frankfurt
Clemens Laubschat
Technische Universität Dresden
Kristin Kliemt
Goethe University Frankfurt
Cornelius Krellner
Goethe University Frankfurt
Denis V. Vyalikh
Donostia International Physics Center
Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque)
Dmitry Yu. Usachov
Saint Petersburg State University - Spsu
Surfaces and Interfaces
2468-0230 (ISSN)
Vol. 32 102126Subject Categories
Materials Chemistry
Other Physics Topics
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.1016/j.surfin.2022.102126