Nature Communications (Jul 2023)

Kondo interaction in FeTe and its potential role in the magnetic order

  • Younsik Kim,
  • Min-Seok Kim,
  • Dongwook Kim,
  • Minjae Kim,
  • Minsoo Kim,
  • Cheng-Maw Cheng,
  • Joonyoung Choi,
  • Saegyeol Jung,
  • Donghui Lu,
  • Jong Hyuk Kim,
  • Soohyun Cho,
  • Dongjoon Song,
  • Dongjin Oh,
  • Li Yu,
  • Young Jai Choi,
  • Hyeong-Do Kim,
  • Jung Hoon Han,
  • Younjung Jo,
  • Ji Hoon Shim,
  • Jungpil Seo,
  • Soonsang Huh,
  • Changyoung Kim

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39827-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Finding d-electron heavy fermion states has been an important topic as the diversity in d-electron materials can lead to many exotic Kondo effect-related phenomena or new states of matter such as correlation-driven topological Kondo insulator. Yet, obtaining direct spectroscopic evidence for a d-electron heavy fermion system has been elusive to date. Here, we report the observation of Kondo lattice behavior in an antiferromagnetic metal, FeTe, via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, scanning tunneling spectroscopy and transport property measurements. The Kondo lattice behavior is represented by the emergence of a sharp quasiparticle and Fano-type tunneling spectra at low temperatures. The transport property measurements confirm the low-temperature Fermi liquid behavior and reveal successive coherent-incoherent crossover upon increasing temperature. We interpret the Kondo lattice behavior as a result of hybridization between localized Fe 3dxy and itinerant Te 5pz orbitals. Our observations strongly suggest unusual cooperation between Kondo lattice behavior and long-range magnetic order.