Antiferromagnetism and Kondo screening on a honeycomb lattice**Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Special Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 2011CB921502 and 2012CB821305), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 61227902, 61378017, and 11434015), the State Key Laboratory for Quantum Optics and Quantum Optical Devices, China (Grant No. KF201403).

Abstract

Magnetic adatoms in the honeycomb lattice have received tremendous attention due to the interplay between Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction and Kondo coupling leading to very rich physics. Here we study the competition between the antiferromagnetism and Kondo screening of local moments by the conduction electrons on the honeycomb lattice using the determinant quantum Monte Carlo method. While changing the interband hybridization V, we systematically investigate the antiferromagnetic-order state and the Kondo singlet state transition, which is characterized by the behavior of the local moment, antiferromagnetic structure factor, and the short range spin-spin correlation. The evolution of the single particle spectrum are also calculated as a function of hybridization V, we find that the system presents a small gap in the antiferromagnetic-order region and a large gap in the Kondo singlet region in the Fermi level. We also find that the localized and itinerant electrons coupling leads to the midgap states in the conduction band in the Fermi level at very small V. Moreover, the formation of antiferromagnetic order and Kondo singlet are studied as on-site interaction U or temperature T increasing, we have derived the phase diagrams at on-site interaction U (or temperature T) and hybridization V plane.