Optical Conductivity Study of f Electron States in YbCu2Ge2 at High Pressures to 20 GPa

Optical conductivity [σ(ω)] of YbCu2Ge2 has been measured at external pressures (P) to 20 GPa, to study the P evolution of f electron hybridized states. At P=0, σ(ω) shows a marked mid-infrared (mIR) peak at 0.37 eV, which is due to optical excitations from f14 (Yb2+) state located below the Fermi level. With increasing P, the mIR peak shows significant shifts to lower energy, reaching 0.18 eV at P=20 GPa. This result indicates that the f14 energy level increases toward the Fermi level with P. Such a shift of the f electron level with P has been expected from theoretical considerations, but had never been demonstrated by spectroscopic experiment under high P. The obtained results are also analyzed in terms of the P evolution of the conduction-f electron hybridization.

Proceedings of the International Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems (SCES2019)

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