Intrinsic Low-Temperature Magnetism in SmB_{6}.

ABSTRACT

By means of new muon spin relaxation experiments, we disentangle extrinsic and intrinsic sources of low-temperature bulk magnetism in the candidate topological Kondo insulator (TKI) SmB_{6}. Results on Al-flux-grown SmB_{6} single crystals are compared to those on a large floating-zone-grown ^{154}Sm ^{11}B_{6} single crystal in which a 14 meV bulk spin exciton has been detected by inelastic neutron scattering. Below ∼10 K, we detect the gradual development of quasistatic magnetism due to rare-earth impurities and Sm vacancies. Our measurements also reveal two additional forms of intrinsic magnetism (1) underlying low-energy (∼100 meV) weak magnetic moment (∼10^{-2} µ_{B}) fluctuations similar to those detected in the related candidate TKI YbB_{12} that persist down to millikelvin temperatures, and (2) magnetic fluctuations consistent with a 2.6 meV bulk magnetic excitation at zero magnetic field that appears to hinder surface conductivity above ∼4.5 K. We discuss potential origins of the magnetism.