Understanding the properties of the rare earth hexaborides - A synergistic approach based on spectroscopy and computational methods

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The goal of our project is to jointly develop new experimental, computational and theoretical methods to study complex emergent phenomena in correlated electronic systems. We will focus on the rare-earth hexaborides, which display complex competing phases that are of great present interest to the community, including competing ground states and quantum criticality. Our interest lies in exploring the role of the 4f hybridization in the properties of the compound. We propose a systematic study across the 4f series as well as some selected doping studies. The methodology will incorporate a full range of scientific inquiry, i.e. state of the art characterization and spectroscopy, high-performance computation and theory. Our focus on spectroscopy will furthermore enable us to observe and possibly disentangle the different energy scales present in the f-shell and their influence on the physical properties in this series. The successful completion of the project might lead to a better understanding of the REB6 in particular and correlated systems in general. It furthermore might provide a quantitative, material-specific description of f-electron compounds with its vast array of ground states from heavy Fermion paramagnetic to magnetic and orbital order.