Phase transition in YbAl<Subscript>3</Subscript>C<Subscript>3</Subscript>

¹⁷⁰Yb M?ssbauer spectroscopy, temperature dependent X-ray, magnetisation and specific heat data are presented in the hexagonal intermetallic YbAl₃C₃, in order to shed light on the isostructural transition occurring near 80 K and to investigate the electronic state of the Yb ion above and below the transition. In the low temperature phase, we find that there occurs an atomic rearrangement in the hexagonal unit cell, leading to a strong symmetry lowering at the Yb site. We show that no magnetic ordering of the Yb³⁺ moments occurs down to 0.04 K, and we discuss this finding in terms of 4f-conduction electron hybridisation and geometric frustration.     

Yb3Cu9(OH)19Cl8 单晶的生长和低温磁性研究

本文介绍了新型kagomé 晶格化合物 Yb3Cu9 (OH)19Cl8 单晶的生长及磁性质研究. 利用水热法制备了高品质的 Yb3Cu9 (OH)19Cl8 单晶,X 射线衍射的精修结果表明,Cu2+ 离子在ab 面内形成kagomé 结构,Yb3+ 离子处在kagomé 六角晶格的中心. 磁化率结果表明 Yb3Cu9 (OH)19Cl8 在温度低至2 K 仍没有磁有序转变, 表现出明显的顺磁行为. 居里-外斯拟合结果显示, 磁性离子间具有强的反铁磁耦合相互作用. 温度低至2 K 的比热曲线上没有明显的磁相变行为的出现, 而是表现出典型的肖特基特征     

Yb-Based Kondo Lattices: Insight from 170Yb Mössbauer, Positive Muon and γ–γ Perturbed Angular Correlations Spectroscopies

The usefulness of local hyperfine techniques in the investigation of the physical properties of Kondo lattices is illustrated through three examples. First, we show how Mössbauer spectroscopy on ¹⁷⁰Yb down to very low temperature (0.025 K) provides evidence for the existence of an incommensurate modulated magnetic structure close to T=0 in YbPtAl; a modulated structure at T=0 is in principle forbidden for Kramers ions, but it is made possible in YbPtAl due to the presence of the Kondo coupling. Second, we present a μSR study of the Kondo insulator YbB₁₂, and we evidence the persistence of fluctuations of very small correlated Yb moments close to T=0. Third, we report on a study by Perturbed Angular Correlation spectroscopy on the isotope ¹⁷²Yb of the Kondo lattice Yb₂Co₃Ga₉, which is characterised by a high Kondo temperature (T ₀?260 K). Our aim was to compare, on a large temperature range, the thermal variations of the 4f quadrupole moment and of the magnetic susceptibility, to check whether the scaling property predicted by theory could be observed.     

Incommensurate modulated magnetic structure in orthorhombic EuPdSb

Orthorhombic EuPdSb is known to undergo two magnetic transitions, at 12 K and at T _N≃ 18 K, and in phase III (T < 12 K), single crystal magnetisation data have shown that the spin structure is collinear antiferromagnetic, with magnetic moments along the crystal a axis. From a ¹⁵¹Eu M?ssbauer absorption study, we show that, at any temperature within phase III, all the moments have equal sizes, and that in phase II (12 K< T <18 K) the magnetic structure is modulated and incommensurate with the lattice spacings. The modulation is close to a pure sine-wave just below T _N = 18 K, and it squares up as temperature is lowered. We measured the thermal variations of the first and third harmonics of the moment modulation, and we could determine the first and third harmonics of the exchange coupling. We furthermore show that the antiferromagnetic-incommensurate transition at 12 K is strongly first order, with a hysteresis of 0.05 K, and that the incommensurate-paramagnetic transition at 18 K is weakly first order. Finally, we present an explanation of the spin-flop transition observed in the single crystal magnetisation data in phase III when || in terms of an anisotropic molecular field tensor. Received 17 January 2001 and Received in final form 20 March 2001     

Magnetic order and crystal field in Dy2Ru2O7 and Yb2Ru2O7

The magnetic properties of R₂Ru₂O₇ pyrochlore compounds (R=Yb, Dy) were studied using specific heat down to 0.4 K and bulk magnetic measurements. These two rare-earth elements were chosen to demonstrate the effect of Ru-R exchange interaction on R magnetic sublattice, in two cases of anisotropy: axial in Dy and planar in Yb. Dy₂Ru₂O₇ undergoes a second order transition to a fully ordered state at 1.85 K with no signs of the spin-ice state. In Yb₂Ru₂O₇ the Yb sublattice orders gradually around 8 K due to the Ru molecular field and no further transition is observed down to 0.4 K. Including the Ru molecular field at the R site in calculations based on crystal field parameters known from titanates R₂Ti₂O₇, allowed us to interpret experimental data.     

Low temperature Kondo reduction of quadrupolar and magnetic moments in the YbCuAl series

We present measurements in the YbCu_5-xAl_x series, down to the 50 mK range, using ¹⁷⁰Yb M?ssbauer absorption spectroscopy and magnetisation measurements. In this series, the hybridisation between the Yb 4 f electrons and the conduction electrons is known to decrease as the Al content x increases. We apply the variational solution of the impurity Kondo problem to the interpretation of our data. We show that the Kondo temperature can be derived from the measured 4 f quadrupole moment and, for the magnetically ordered compounds (), we obtain the exchange energy as a function of the Al content. Our findings are in general agreement with Doniach's model describing the onset of magnetic ordering according to the relative values of the Kondo and exchange energy scales. Received 16 April 1998     

Paramagnetic fluctuations in Yb3Ga5O12 investigated with 172Yb PAC probe

¹⁷²Yb PAC measurements were carried out on Yb₃Ga₅O₁₂ at temperatures ranging from 14 to 1100 K. The time dependent hyperfine interaction is clearly evident below room temperature. It is attributed to spin fluctuations of Yb ion in the ground state of the ²F_7/2 multiplet. Above 500 K, the temperature dependence of the electric field gradient is shown to result from a varying population of the crystal electric field levels. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Low temperature studies on magnetic properties of Tm2O3

Magnetic properties of Tm₂O₃ were studied by means of magnetometry as well as by heat capacity measurements. The specific heat data were collected down to 0.35 K, and yielded some new information about crystal field splitting of the ³H₆ thulium multiplet. Some anomalous behaviour of the specific heat below 5 K was observed. It turned out, that this anomaly can be nicely described by Schottky contribution originating from crystal field levels distribution of the Tm³⁺ multiplet. No magnetic ordering was evidenced down to the lowest temperatures studied.     

Collapse of valence transition in Yb0.8Y0.2InCu4: pressure-induced weak ferromagnetism

We investigated the magnetization of Yb0.8Y0.2InCu4 as a function of temperature down to 0.6 K, pressure up to 1.2 GPa, and magnetic field up to 9 T. The valence transition temperature of Yb0.8Y0.2InCu4 is lowered with applying pressure. At 0.8 GPa, collapse of the valence transition and ferromagnetic ordering occur almost simultaneously. The ferromagnetic phase at 1.2 GPa is characterized by a low Curie temperature of 1.7 K and an extremely small ordered moment of 0.05 micro(B) per Yb. Some effect of screening the ordered moment may play a key role in the ferromagnetism and the valence transition.     

Magnetic and structural studies of the alloy system REIn0.5Ag0.5

The structural and magnetic properties of the alloy system REIn_0.5Ag_0.5 [RE = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm and Yb] are reported. All these alloys (except that of Yb) crystallize in a cubic CsCl type structure at room temperature. Low temperature X-ray diffraction data does not reveal any structural phase transformation down to 8 K. On the basis of magnetic susceptibility data at a different temperature (3–300 K) and applied magnetic field (2 × 10⁵ to 8 × 10⁶ A m^-1, it has been concluded that GdIn_0.5Ag_0.5 is ferromagnetic (T_c = 118 K), TbIn_0.5Ag_0.5 and DyIn_0.5Ag_0.5 are meta magnetic (T_N = 66 and 30 K, respectively) and alloys involving Ho, Er, Tm and Yb are ferrimagnetic with Néel temperatures (T_N) equal to 24, 22, 21 and 20 K, respectively. The evaluated effective magneton number (p) is found to be slightly larger compared to theoretical values for tripositive ions of Gd, Tb and Dy and a bit smaller for Ho, Er, Tm and Yb. The results have been qualitatively explained using appropriate theories.     

Magnetic and thermal measurements on high-Tc (La0.9Ba0.1)2CuO4-y

We have measured the magnetic moment of (La_0.9Ba_0.1)₂CuO_4- as a function of temperature and magnetic field and have found the onset of superconductivity at a temperature T ⋍ 35 K. From the magnetic field dependencies, we have shown that the sample is a type-II superconductor with ≲ ⋍ 11. Specific heat measurements yield a finite electronic specific heat coefficient of ∼6 mJ/mole-K² at 4 K and a Debye temperature of only 330 K, suggesting that a strong electron-phonon interaction may be responsible for the high T in our sample.     

The lattice location and hyperfine field of implanted Yb in Fe as a function of annealing temperature

A combined study has been made of the lattice location and hyperfine field of Yb implanted into Fe single crystals. The location has been determined by ion channeling and back-scattering, the hyperfine field by perturbed angular correlation (PAC) measurements on¹⁶⁹Yb (decaying to excited states in¹⁶⁹Tm). The channeling experiments indicate that initially about 60% of the Yb atoms occupy substitutional sites in the Fe lattice, while the remaining atoms are not in any specific crystallographic site. On annealing, Yb migrates from substitutional to non-substitutional sites. No Yb atoms remain substitutional after a 600°C anneal. By making PAC measurements at two temperatures for two - cascades in¹⁶⁹Tm, it is found that the PAC pattern can be described using a combined static and time-dependent magnetic interaction. The PAC results show that the average hyperfine field and relaxation parameter decrease on annealing, and that the field disappears after a 600°C anneal. The correlation between the location and the hyperfine field is discussed. A comparison of the results with previous Mössbauer results for¹⁵¹Gd implanted in Fe, together with relaxation parameter measurements on a¹⁶⁹Yb₂O₃ source, suggests that the non-substitutional Yb is internally oxidized in the Fe host.Work partly carried out while at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford, England and Nuclear Physics Division, AERE, Harwell, England.     

Spin and temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field of Cd in the rare earth-aluminum Lavesphase compounds RAl2

Perturbed angular correlation spectroscopy has been used to investigate the combined magnetic and electric hyperfine interaction of the probe nucleus ¹¹¹Cd in ferromagnetically ordered rare earth (R)-dialuminides RAl₂ as a function of temperature for the rare earth constituents R=Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er. In compounds with two magnetically non-equivalent Al sites (R=Sm, Tb, Ho, Er), the magnetic hyperfine field was found to be strongly anisotropic. This anisotropy is much greater than the anisotropic dipolar fields, suggesting a contribution of the anisotropic 4f-electron density to magnetic hyperfine field at the closed-shell probe nucleus. The spin dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field reflects a decrease of the effective exchange parameter of the indirect coupling with increasing R atomic number. For the compounds with the R constituents R=Pr, Nd, Tb, Dy and Ho the parameters B₄, B₆ of the interaction of the crystal field interaction have been determined from the temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field. The ¹¹¹Cd PAC spectrum of EuAl₂ at 9 K confirms the antiferromagnetic structure of this compound.     

Crystal field effects on the magnetic and hyperfine properties of Yb3+ in ytterbium ethylsulfate

The magnetic and hyperfine properties of Yb³⁺ in Yb(C₂H₅SO₄)₃·.9H₂O have been studied using the crystal field (CF) obtained from an analysis of the observed absorption spectra of the crystal. The principal magnetic susceptibilities are in reasonable agreement with those observed both at liquid oxygen and liquid helium temperatures. The observed reversal of magnetic anisotropy at 17.7K is also corroborated. The Schottky heat capacity shows a peak at around 40K. The magnetic hyperfine field due to the 4f electrons at the nucleus is found to be 1.79MG. The hyperfine heat capacity C_N has a Schottky anomaly at about 25 mK. Above 1K, in the liquid helium range, C_N follows a simple T^?2 law as observed by Cooke et al. It is concluded that in the rare earth ethylsulfates a single suitable CF gives a good account of the various properties from room temperature down to liquid He temperatures.     

Magnetic and transport properties of Pr2Pt3Si5

We have investigated the magnetic and transport properties of a polycrystalline Pr₂Pt₃Si₅ sample through the dc and ac magnetic susceptibilities, electrical resistivity, and specific heat measurements. The Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray diffraction data reveals that Pr₂Pt₃Si₅ crystallizes in the U₂Co₃Si₅-type orthorhombic structure (space group Ibam). Both the dc and ac magnetic susceptibility data measured at low fields exhibit sharp anomaly near 15 K. In contrast, the specific heat data exhibit only a broad anomaly implying no long range magnetic order down to 2 K. The broad Schottky-type anomaly in low temperature specific heat data is interpreted in terms of crystal electric field (CEF) effect, and a CEF-split singlet ground state is inferred. The absence of the long range order is attributed to the presence of nonmagnetic singlet ground state of the Pr³⁺ ion. The electrical resistivity data exhibit metallic behavior and are well described by the Bloch–Grüniesen–Mott relation.     

Magneto-volume effects in Fe–Cu solid solutions

The magnetic properties of Fe–Cu metastable solid solutions have been investigated by means of neutron diffraction and magnetisation measurements. These compounds exhibit ferromagnetic order with Curie temperatures above room temperature for concentrations beyond 40 at% in Fe. The magnetic moment at 5 K can reach values over 2 μ_B, while the high field susceptibility is similar to that found in FCC–FeNi Invar alloys. These features together with the low values for the linear coefficient for thermal expansion in the ferromagnetic region suggest that magneto-volume anomalies, including Invar behaviour, play a major role in the magnetic properties of this system when the crystal structure is face centred cubic. Such behaviour could be explained using theoretical total-band energy calculations.     

Magnetic behavior of Dy3+ Ion in Dy2(SeO4)3 · 8H2O. Experimental and theoretical study including the effects of J-J mixing

Single crystals of dysprosium selenate octahydrate were grown and magnetic measurements carried out on the principal anisotropies and the principal susceptibility χ₁ at room temperature and their thermal variation down to 90 K. The magnetic moment is found to be slightly lower than the free-ion value, although the anisotropy is quite high. The variation of the average moment with temperature is very small and a least squares fit to a Curie-Weiss law yielded ?0.97 K as the paramagnetic Curie temperature. An analysis of the data was undertaken on the basis of interaction of the rare earth ion with its immediate neighbors. A crystal field (CF) of tetragonal symmetry which is the approximate site symmetry of the RE³⁺ ion, gave an excellent simulation of the observed behavior. Considerable effects of J-J mixing of the first three J-multiplets with the ground one were noticed. g-factors and the Schottky anomalies in the heat capacity were determined theoretically. Various hyperfine properties, including the thermal variation of the Mössbauer spectra, were computed for both isotopes of dysprosium in the light of the proposed CF.     

The Nd–Mn exchange interaction,low temperature specific heat and magnetism of Nd2/3Ca1/3MnO3

The low temperature specific heat and magnetic characteristics of Nd_2/3Ca_1/3MnO₃ perovskite are studied in a wide range of magnetic fields (up to 9 T). Temperature dependent specific heat data show a broadened Schottky-like anomaly below 20 K caused by splitting of the Nd³⁺ ions ground-state doublet in the effective molecular field H_ex, determined by exchange interaction between Nd and Mn spin systems supplemented by an applied external magnetic field. Existence of the splitting at zero magnetic field and expressed field dependence is the evidence of a strong exchange coupling between Nd and Mn magnetic subsystems. The Nd-ions magnetic ordering leads to an additional contribution to the magnetic moment of the system below 30 K, producing anomalies of the magnetic loss and field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetizations. The observed broadened Schottky-like anomalies are fitted for each applied magnetic field by the sum of three Schottky functions. Applied magnetic field extends the anomaly region and shifts it to higher temperatures. Splitting of the higher crystal field Kramers doublets gives an additional contribution to the heat capacity in magnetic fields. The ground state doublet g-factors g_|| and g_⊥ were estimated to be 3.4 and 2.2, respectively, and H_ex was estimated to be 9 T. The Nd³⁺ ions magnetic moment estimated from the magnetization data agrees with the value obtained from the specific heat data.     

Spin-canting and transverse relaxation in maghemite nanoparticles and in tin-doped maghemite

The magnetic properties of maghemite nanoparticles and tin-doped maghemite have been studied by ⁵⁷Fe and ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy at temperatures from 6 to 300 K with and without applied magnetic fields. The low-temperature ⁵⁷Fe spectra of both samples, obtained in a field of 4 T, can be described in terms of A-site and B-site components with perfect ferrimagnetic order and a strongly canted component, which seems to have its main contribution from B-site ions. At higher temperatures, the components with strong canting are influenced by transverse relaxation, which results in significant line broadening, a reduction of the magnetic hyperfine splitting and a reduction in the relative areas of lines 2 and 5. The ¹¹⁹Sn spectra show a very broad distribution of magnetic hyperfine fields at low temperatures. When the sample was exposed to applied magnetic fields the distribution became narrower. The spectra show that the direction of the hyperfine field of a large fraction of the tin ions in maghemite is antiparallel to the applied field, but a minor fraction of the tin ions have canted hyperfine fields.     

Crystal field investigations of Yb(C2H5SO4)3. 9H2O and Er: YA1G

Using the spectroscopically derived crystal field parameters for Yb(C₂H₅SO₄)₃. 9H₂O and Er³⁺: YA1G, the temperature dependence of Schottky specific heat, paramagnetic susceptibility, magnetic anisotropy and μ_eff has been calculated over a temperature range 5–400°K. The hyperfine interaction parameters for ¹⁷¹Yb³⁺, ¹⁷³Yb³⁺ and ¹⁶⁷Er³⁺ systems are also obtained and in turn used to estimate the nuclear specific heat. The nice agreement obtained for susceptibility and specific heat of Yb(C₂H₅SO₄)₃. 9H₂O at very low temperatures confirms the accuracy of CEF parameters employed and the neglect of exchange interaction. However, for Er³⁺: YA1G, the CEF parameters are adequate to explain the bulk thermal and magnetic properties but not the g-values.