1. Artificially built Kondo chains with organic radicals on metallic surfaces: new model system of heavy fermion quantum criticality
- Author
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Li, En, Danu, Bimla, Liu, Yufeng, Xie, Huilin, Lam, Jacky Wing Yip, Tang, Ben Zhong, Wang, Shiyong, Assaad, Fakher F., and Lin, Nian
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics ,Condensed Matter - Materials Science - Abstract
Heavy fermion quantum criticality is an extremely rich domain of research which represents a framework to understand strange metals as a consequence of a Kondo breakdown transition. Here we provide an experimental realization of such systems in terms of organic radicals on a metallic surface. The ground state of organic radicals is a Kramer's doublet that can be modeled by a spin 1/2 degree of freedom. Using on-surface synthesis and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) tip manipulation, one can controllably engineer and characterize chains of organic radicals on a Au(111) surface. The spatial-resolved differential conductance reveals site-dependent low-energy excitations, which support the picture of emergent many-body Kondo physics. Using quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that a Kondo lattice model of spin chains on a metallic surface reproduces accurately the experimental results. This allows us to interpret the experimental results in terms of a heavy fermion metal, below the coherence temperature. We foresee that the tunability of these systems will pave the way to realize quantum simulators of heavy fermion criticality.
- Published
- 2024