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Real-space imaging of an orbital Kondo resonance on the Cr(001) surface

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Abstract

The Kondo effect1 is usually connected with the interaction between a localized spin moment and itinerant electrons. This interaction leads to the formation of a narrow resonance at the Fermi level, which is called the Abrikosov–Suhl or Kondo resonance2. Scanning tunnelling microscopy is an ideal technique for real-space investigations of complicated electronic structures3,4 and many-body phenomena, such as the formation of the Kondo resonance5,6,7,8 or d-wave pairing in high-Tc superconductors9. Theory has predicted that similar, Kondo-like many-electron resonances are possible for scattering centres with orbital instead of spin degrees of freedom—the quadruple momenta in uranium-based compounds or two-level systems in metallic glasses are examples of such ‘pseudo-Kondo’ scattering centres10. Here we present evidence for the orbital Kondo resonance on a transition-metal surface. Investigations of an atomically clean Cr(001) surface at low temperature using scanning tunnelling microscopy reveal a very narrow resonance at 26 meV above the Fermi level, and enable us to visualize the orbital character of the corresponding state. The experimental data, together with many-body calculations, demonstrate that the observed resonance is an orbital Kondo resonance formed by two degenerate dxz, dyz surface states.

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Figure 1: Tunnelling spectroscopy on Cr(001).
Figure 2: Visualization of the orbital Kondo resonance on Cr(001).
Figure 3: Formation of the orbital Kondo resonance.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Hermsen and J. Gerritsen for technical assistance, and A. Keen for a reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by FOM and NWO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Materials, University of Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, Nijmegen, NL–6525 ED, The Netherlands

    O. Yu. Kolesnychenko, R. de Kort, M. I. Katsnelson, A. I. Lichtenstein & H. van Kempen

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  1. O. Yu. Kolesnychenko
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  2. R. de Kort
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  3. M. I. Katsnelson
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  4. A. I. Lichtenstein
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  5. H. van Kempen
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Kolesnychenko, O., de Kort, R., Katsnelson, M. et al. Real-space imaging of an orbital Kondo resonance on the Cr(001) surface. Nature 415, 507–509 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415507a

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