Temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of the Ce 4f states in a possible topological Kondo insulator CeRhAs
The electronic structure of a possible topological Kondo insulator of CeRhAs has been investigated by employing temperature (T)-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Fermi surfaces (FSs) and band structures are successfully measured for three orthogonal crystallographic planes. The measured Fermi-edge states are found to have a three-dimensional (3D) character, contradictory to the proposed topological surface states of the 2 D character. The measured FSs due to the Ce 4f electrons agree well with those from the density functional theory band structures unfolded into the reduced Ce-only unit cell. The theoretically predicted hourglass-type bulk bands along $\bar{X}\bar{S}\bar{X}$ are not clearly resolved, in spite of the evident existence of those band features. Finally, T -dependent ARPES measurements reveal that the coherent Ce 4f states, having two pseudogap structures of Δ 1 ~ 80 meV and Δ 2 ~ 30 meV, persist to remain above 200 K, in agreement with the high Kondo temperature of CeRhAs.