Ultrasonic investigation of the Kondo semimetal CeBi

Abstract

We report the elastic properties of the Kondo semimetal CeBi by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy measurements at zero magnetic field. Clear elastic softening is found in bulk modulus $C_B$ below $\sim 60$ K. Such a softening in $C_B$, in addition to the anomalous temperature dependent Poisson's ratio, is hardly attributable to multipolar response for stable localized $4f$ orbital, but can be well described by a two-band model arising from the hybridization between conduction- and $4f$- electrons. These results probably are consequences of the valence fluctuations in this Kondo semimetal as originally suggested by a Fermi-surface expansion observed in a previous angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study [P. Li \textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. B $\mathbf{100}$, 155110 (2019)].