Kondo and anti-Kondo coupling to local moments in EuB$_6$

TL;DR

This paper investigates the electronic structure and magnetic interactions in EuB$_6$, revealing complex exchange couplings and proposing it as a potential half-metallic semimetal within a two-band Kondo lattice framework.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of EuB$_6$'s electronic states using LDA+U, highlighting unexpected exchange interactions and proposing a novel magnetic coupling model.

Findings

Eu B$_6$ exhibits mixed Eu $f$ and B $p$ states affecting exchange interactions.

The material may be a half-metallic semimetal in its ordered phase.

A two-band Kondo lattice model describes the magnetic physics of EuB$_6$.

Abstract

With a treatment of the 4$f$ states of EuB$_6$ based on LDA+U method, the mixing of Eu $f$ states with B $p$ states around the X point of the Brillouin zone is shown to have unexpected consequences for the effective exchange interactions. We analyze in detail the orbital character of electronic states close to the Fermi level and discuss the effective exchange between the itinerant electrons and the local $4f$ moments. The analysis suggests that the ordered phase may provide the first example of a {\it half metallic semimetal}, and that the physics of EuB$_6$ should be described in terms of a two band Kondo lattice model with parallel (ferromagnetic) coupling of the conduction electrons and antiparallel (antiferromagnetic) coupling of the valence electrons to the local $4f$ moments.