Topological surface states interacting with bulk excitations in the Kondo insulator SmB$_6$ revealed via planar tunneling spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study uses planar tunneling spectroscopy to reveal the detailed electronic structure of SmB$_6$, showing topological surface states interacting with bulk excitations, supporting the idea of incompletely protected surface states in this Kondo insulator.

Contribution

It provides direct spectroscopic evidence of topological surface states in SmB$_6$ and introduces a phenomenological model explaining their interaction with bulk excitations.

Findings

Surface states exhibit linear density of states consistent with Dirac cones.

Topological surface states are not fully protected within the bulk hybridization gap.

Interaction with bulk spin excitons explains observed spectroscopic features.

Abstract

Samarium hexaboride (SmB$_6$), a well-known Kondo insulator in which the insulating bulk arises from strong electron correlations, has recently attracted great attention owing to increasing evidence for its topological nature, thereby harboring protected surface states. However, corroborative spectroscopic evidence is still lacking, unlike in the weakly correlated counterparts, including Bi$_2$Se$_3$. Here we report results from planar tunneling that unveil the detailed spectroscopic properties of SmB$_6$. The tunneling conductance obtained on the (001) and (011) single crystal surfaces reveal linear density of states as expected for two and one Dirac cone(s), respectively. Quite remarkably, it is found that these topological states are not protected completely within the bulk hybridization gap. A phenomenological model of the tunneling process invoking interaction of the surface states with bulk excitations (spin excitons), as predicted by a recent theory, provides a consistent explanation for all of the observed features. Our spectroscopic study supports and explains the proposed picture of the incompletely protected surface states in this topological Kondo insulator SmB$_6$.