Cooperative concurrence of 4f and 3d flat bands in kagome heavy-fermion metal YbCr6Ge6

TL;DR

This study reveals how heavy-fermion behavior and antiferromagnetism coexist in YbCr6Ge6 due to the hybridization of flat bands from kagome lattice and Yb-4f electrons, offering insights into correlated topological quantum states.

Contribution

It demonstrates the cooperative coexistence and interaction of two distinct flat bands in a kagome heavy-fermion metal, a novel phenomenon not previously observed.

Findings

Coexistence of flat bands from kagome lattice and Yb-4f electrons near Fermi level

Spectroscopic evidence of hybridization between Yb-4f flat band and conduction bands

Enhanced antiferromagnetic transition temperature compared to similar kagome metals

Abstract

Flat-band (FB) systems originating from special lattice geometry like in kagome metals as well as localized orbitals in the materials such as heavy-fermion (HF) compounds have induced intensive interest due to their band topology and strong electron correlation effects, leading to emergent quantum states of matter. However, the question of how these two distinct FBs coexist and interact remains unsettled. Here, we report that YbCr6Ge6 hosting both Cr-kagome lattice and Yb-4f electrons exhibits HF behaviors and a robust antiferromagnetic ground state with transition temperature TN = 3 K, significantly higher than other similar kagome metals with Yb ions. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements reveal the coexistence of FBs originating from both Cr-kagome lattice and localized Yb-4f electrons near Fermi energy level EF. More importantly, the clear spectroscopic signatures of a hybridization of Yb-4f FB with kagome-lattice-derived conduction bands and the high density of states of Cr-kagome FB near EF provide the underlying microscopic mechanisms of HF behaviors and enhanced antiferromagnetism in YbCr6Ge6. Our findings demonstrate that the novel kagome HF metals can not only host the cooperative coexistence of two different types of FBs, but also provide a paradigm material platform to explore the exotic correlated topological quantum phenomena.