Effect of Anisotropic Hybridization in YbAlB_{4} Probed by Linear Dichroism in Core-Level Hard X-Ray Photoemission Spectroscopy

Phys Rev Lett. 2019 Jul 19;123(3):036404. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.036404.

Abstract

We have probed the crystalline electric-field ground states of pure |J=7/2,J_{z}=±5/2⟩ as well as the anisotropic c-f hybridization in both valence fluctuating systems α- and β-YbAlB_{4} by linear polarization dependence of angle-resolved core level photoemission spectroscopy. Interestingly, the small but distinct difference between α- and β-YbAlB_{4} was found in the polar angle dependence of linear dichroism, indicating the difference in the anisotropy of c-f hybridization, which may be a key to understanding a heavy Fermi liquid state in α-YbAlB_{4} and a quantum critical state in β-YbAlB_{4}.