Tuning the hybridization at the surface of a heavy-fermion system

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Sep 25;103(13):137601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.137601. Epub 2009 Sep 23.

Abstract

Electron-hybridization phenomena in YbRh_{2}Si_{2} were probed by angle-resolved photoemission. It was shown that the Yb 4f-Rh 4d hybridization strength in the surface region of this heavy-fermion material can be varied by deposition of Ag. Site-specific charge transfer from adatoms leads to change of the energy overlap of the interacting states close to the Fermi energy. Our study demonstrates a new way to tune the hybridization between 4f and valence electrons as well as the induced strong correlation effects at the surface of heavy-fermion systems.