Ultrafast quasiparticle dynamics in the heavy-fermion compound YbRh2Si2

Abstract

Understanding strongly correlated rare-earth intermetallic compounds requires knowledge of the nature of the fermionic quasiparticles in states near the Fermi level ${E}_{\mathrm{F}}$. We report on a pump-probe experiment using femtosecond time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to determine lifetimes of hot quasiparticles in the heavy-fermion compound YbRh${}_{2}$Si${}_{2}$. An unoccupied band with electronlike dispersion and a band bottom 0.2 eV above ${E}_{\mathrm{F}}$ was identified at $\overline{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$, in agreement with band structure calculations for the subsurface region. Hot quasiparticle lifetimes from 30 to 80 fs were found for energies between 0.4 and $0.1$ eV above ${E}_{\mathrm{F}}$. These lifetimes generally follow the typical monotonous increase towards ${E}_{\mathrm{F}}$, in agreement with earlier studies on Yb and Rh elemental metals. However, at normal emission the lifetimes at around 0.2 eV exceed this trend by about $+20$ fs. This difference decreases with increasing photoemission angle and can be assigned to the particular band that is probed in YbRh${}_{2}$Si${}_{2}$. Potential microscopic scenarios are discussed.