Robust local and non-local transport in the Topological Kondo Insulator SmB₆ in the presence of high magnetic field

2015/02/11 by Sangram Biswas, Ramya Nagarajan, Biswas, Sangram +13
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Magnetic Properties of Alloys #Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Rare-earth and actinide compounds

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1502.03200

openalex publication_date 2015/02/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

SmB₆ has been predicted to be a Kondo Topological Insulator with topologically protected conducting surface states. We have studied quantitatively the electrical transport through surface states in high quality single crystals of SmB₆. We observe a large non-local surface signal at temperatures lower than the bulk Kondo gap scale. Measurements and finite element simulations allow us to distinguish unambiguously between the contributions from different transport channels. In contrast to general expectations, the electrical transport properties of the surface channels was found to be insensitive to high magnetic fields. Local and non-local magnetoresistance measurements allowed us to identify definite signatures of helical spin states and strong inter-band scattering at the surface.

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