Spin- and angle-resolved photoemission on the topological Kondo Insulator candidate: SmB6

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding SmB6, a promising topological Kondo insulator, highlighting spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy findings and transport properties, emphasizing its unique insulating bulk and metallic surface states.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of experimental results on SmB6, emphasizing its topological surface states and the role of strong electron correlations in this material.

Findings

Identification of topological surface states in SmB6

Evidence of insulating bulk state due to many-body effects

Correlation between surface states and transport phenomena

Abstract

Topological Kondo insulators are a new class of topological insulators in which metallic surface states protected by topological invariants reside in the bulk band gap at low temperatures. Unlike other three-dimensional topological insulators, a truly insulating bulk state, which is critical for potential applications in next-generation electronic devices, is guaranteed by many-body effects in the topological Kondo insulator. Furthermore, the system has strong electron correlations that can serve as a testbed for interacting topological theories. This topical review focuses on recent advances in the study of SmB6, the most promising candidate for a topological Kondo insulator, from the perspective of spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with highlights of some important transport results.