CeFePO: f-d hybridization and quenching of superconductivity

TL;DR

This study investigates the electronic structure of CeFePO, revealing how Ce 4f states hybridize with Fe 3d states, which sheds light on the mechanisms behind superconductivity and correlated electron phenomena in this material.

Contribution

The paper provides experimental evidence and theoretical confirmation of Ce 4f and Fe 3d hybridization in CeFePO, advancing understanding of its electronic structure and superconductivity mechanisms.

Findings

Ce 4f states hybridize with Fe 3d states of d_{3z^2-r^2} symmetry near the Fermi level

Hybridization influences electron-correlation phenomena and superconductivity

Experimental results are supported by LDA and DMFT calculations

Abstract

Being homologue to the new, Fe-based type of high-temperature superconductors, CeFePO exhibits magnetism, Kondo and heavy-fermion phenomena. We experimentally studied the electronic structure of CeFePO by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. In particular, contributions of the Ce 4f-derived states and their hybridization to the Fe 3d bands were explored using both symmetry selection rules for excitation and their photoionization cross-section variations as a function of photon energy. It was experimentally found - and later on confirmed by LDA as well as DMFT calculations - that the Ce 4f states hybridize to the Fe 3d states of d_{3z^2-r^2} symmetry near the Fermi level that discloses their participation in the occurring electron-correlation phenomena and provides insight into mechanism of superconductivity in oxopnictides.