Lifshitz transition from valence fluctuations in YbAl₃

In mixed-valent Kondo lattice systems, such as YbAl₃, interactions between localized and delocalized electrons can lead to fluctuations between two different valence configurations with changing temperature or pressure. The impact of this change on the momentum-space electronic structure is essential for understanding their emergent properties, but has remained enigmatic. Here, by employing a combination of molecular beam epitaxy and in situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy we show that valence fluctuations can lead to dramatic changes in the Fermi surface topology, even resulting in a Lifshitz transition. As the temperature is lowered, a small electron pocket in YbAl₃ becomes completely unoccupied while the low-energy ytterbium (Yb) 4f states become increasingly itinerant, acquiring additional spectral weight, longer lifetimes, and well-defined dispersions. Our work presents a unified picture of how local valence fluctuations connect to momentum-space concepts such as band filling and Fermi surface topology in mixed valence systems.How the electronic structure of a mixed-valence system changes with respect to local chemical environment remains elusive. Here, Chatterjee et al. show that valence fluctuations of YbAl₃ can lead to dramatic changes in the Fermi surface topology in reciprocal space.