Thermal properties of dilute (La,Ce)Al2 alloys

We report on measurements of the specific heat and transport properties (resistivity, heat conductivity and thermopower) of dilute (La_1–x Ce _x )Al₂ alloys withx0.04 between 0.3 and 10 K. The specific heat experiments were extended to a magnetic field of 47 kØe; the transport measurements were performed on single crystals. For Ce concentrations less than 0.5 a/o Kondo type single impurity behavior was observed for all quantities under investigation. A mean Kondo temperature was obtained from the S=1/2 exchange model using our own data taken in the normal as well as in the superconducting state and data from the literature. Whereas neither the mean free path nor interimpurity correlations were significantly reflected in the specific heat, they obscured the transport properties above 0.5 a/o. The influence of crystal field excitation and band structure effects on the experimental results is also discussed.Work performed within the research program of the Sonderfor-schungsbereich 125—Aachen/Jülich/Köln.     

Low temperature specific heat of Cr-Fe-Si alloys

Low temperature specific heats of Cr-Fe-Si alloys with 3 at. % Si were investigated between 1.4°–4.2°K. The electronic specific heat coefficient γ essentially varies with transition metal electron concentration ( e/a) in the same manner as the Cr-Fe alloys but with the high γ peak slightly shifted to lower e/a. The shift of γ peak suggests transfer of electrons from Si atoms to the 3d magnetic subband of the transition elements.     

Magnetic breakdown in very dilute aluminum-silver alloys

The temperature and magnetic field dependences of the electrical magnetoresistance of very dilute (1 300 ? RRR ? 10 000) AlAg alloys have been measured for H ? [110]. Although no oscillations were observed, there is evidence in the temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance for the existence of magnetic breakdown.     

Lattice specific heat of copper based dilute alloys at low temperature

The low-temperature lattice specific heat of copper-based dilute alloys $\text{Cu}$ Sn, $\text{Cu}$ Ga, $\text{Cu}$ Ge, $\text{Cu}$ Zn and $\text{Cu}$ Ni has been studied theoretically on the basis of Green's function theory. A nearest-neighbour impurity model, with certral and non-central force constant changes has been employed. The effect of volume change is taken into account, and is seen to be important. The calculated results are in excellent agreement with experimental measurements, and the derived force constants are seen to be reasonable.     

Low temperature behavior of the spin susceptibility in nearly magnetic dilute alloys

We show that the low temperature susceptibility of a dilute alloy containing nearly magnetic impurities varies like T² well below the characteristic temperature, (the spin fluctuation temperature or the Kondo one) in agreement with experiments.     

Low temperature specific heat of transition metals and alloys

The article reviews experimental results on the low temperature specific heat of the transition metals and their alloys. Particularly discussed are the variations of the electronic part on the basis of a complete compilation of measurements given.     

Low temperature specific heat of Ni-Co and Ni-Fe alloys

Values of the low temperature specific heat of f.c.c. Ni-Co and Ni-Fe alloys have been determined in the 1.2–8 K range with a relative accuracy of 10^-3 and analysed to separate the electron, phonon, magnon and hyperfine terms. Results are in good agreement with former data^5–7 and with theory: Gomes' model⁴ of a d-d tight-binding scattering in the dilute case, Hasegawa's^12,13 CPA calculations are both consistent with experiments.     

Magnetic phase diagram of very dilute Pd-based alloys

The magnetic phase diagram of Pd-based 3d metal alloys is calculated on the basis of the random molecular field model. A paramagnetic-spin glass transition is expected for c < 0.06 at %, a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic one for c > 0.17 at %, while in the intermediate region a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic-spin glass transition is predicted.     

Electrical resistivity and magneto-resistance of very dilute Cu-Cr alloys

Measurements of the electrical resistivity from 1.5–80 K and the longitudinal magnetoresistivity from 0–95 kOe at 1.9, 4.2 and 25 K for every dilute Cr in Cu alloys are reported.     

Ni-Zr amorphous alloys: Low temperature specific heat and superconductivity

The specific heat (C_p) of the amorphous alloys Ni_100-xZr_x for x = 75, 65, 55 and 35 was measured from 0.8K to 40K and the composition trends of the transition temperature T_c, the enhanced density of states at the Fermi level N_γ(_F) and the Debye temperatures θ_D(0), θ_D(T) established. For the three superconducting compositions (x=75, 65, 55) N_γ(E_F increases rapidly with increasing [Zr] in agreement with the trend in amorphous Cu-Zr alloys. However, for the Zr-Ni alloys the bare density of states $\text{N}{}_0\text{(E}{}_{\mathrm{F}}\text{) =}\text{N}{}_{\mathrm{\gamma }}\text{(E}{}_{\mathrm{F}}\text{)}\text{(1 + λ}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{)}$ increases strongly with [Zr] in contrast to the Zr-Cu alloys where it is reported to be almost constant. We conclude that for the Ni-Zr alloys the electron-ion matrix element <I²> decreases with increasing [Zr]. Other results are related to recent photoemission studies of these alloys.     

Low temperature specific heats of erbium dihydrine. Magnetic transition and crystal field splitting effects

The specific heat of erbium dihydride, ErH_1.99, was measured in the temperature range from 1.8–230 K. A λ-type specific heat anomaly, most probably due to an antiferrómagnetic transition has been found at T_N = 2.13 ± 0.03 K. The influence of the crystal field of cubic symmetry on the splitting of the ground state ⁴I_{$\text{15}\text{2}$} of the Er³⁺ ion was analysed and the conclusion was drawn, that the doublet Γ₇ is the lowest lying crystal-field level.     

The high temperature resistivity of dilute alloys

Recently measured anomalies in the high temperature resistivity of dilute alloys (transition metals in copper) are interpreted on the basis of the Anderson model. Assuming that the anomalies are caused by phonons the Anderson hamiltonian extended to the case of many impurities is treated, electron-phonon coupling being included. Using the equation-of-motion technique for theGreen's functions, the free electron relaxation time, and the resistivity are calculated. The approximations consist in neglecting impurity correlations and taking into account only terms linear in the temperature and the impurity concentration. We find that in most cases the calculated additional resistivity caused by the impurities show the measuredT-dependance as related to the occurrence of magnetic moments of the impurities in the host metal.     

Anomalous specific heat in La : Ce alloys

The magnetic contribution to the specific heat in La : Ce alloys shows a broad anomaly at ≈ 1.2°K which is weakly dependent on the concentration. This anomaly, which accounts for a substantial portion of the entropy of a doublet, cannot be attributed to either usual magnetic ordering or to a dilute alloy Kondo effect, but may represent the behavior of a concentrated Kondo system.     

Electronic structure of non-magnetic impurities in dilute alloys of Al

The electronic structure of substitutional non-magnetic impurities Cu, Ag, Cd, Mg, Zn, Ga, In, Ge, Si and Sn in Al is studied using density functional theory. A simple physical model is proposed to calculate the effective charges on impurities in trivalent metal Al. A linear relation is found between the effective charges on impurities and impurity vacancy capture radii. The spherical solid model (SSM) is used to account for discrete nature of the host. The impurity-induced change in charge density, scattering phase shifts, host-impurity potential, residual resistivity and impurity self-energy are calculated. Higher order scattering phase shifts are found significant and the host-impurity potential is found proportional to effective charge on impurity in its vicinity. The self-consistently calculated potential is used to calculate the electric field gradients (EFGs) at the first and second nearest neighbours (1NNs, 2NNs) of impurity. The calculated values are in agreement with the experimental results.     

Lattice specific heat and local density of states of Ni-based dilute alloys at low temperature

A detailed theoretical study of the low-temperature lattice specific heat of Ni-based dilute alloys has been carried out. Lattice Green’s function method has been used to calculate the local density of states of substitutional impurities and lattice specific heat in different alloys. The resonance condition has been investigated for possible occurrence of resonance modes. Except in NiCr and NiMn, low-frequency resonance modes have been obtained in all the alloys. However, no localized mode was obtained. The impurity-induced increase in lattice specific heat is explained on the basis of the obtained resonance modes. The calculation shows an excellent agreement with the measured lattice specific heat in these alloys     

Mössbauer study of very dilute Pd(Fe) alloys at very low temperatures

The magnetic behaviour of very dilute (7 ppm and 0.6 ppm) Pd(Fe) alloys has been studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy in external fields up to 6 T in the temperature range between 0.018 and 300 K. No magnetic ordering was observed even at the lowest temperature. Above 0.067 K the magnetization exhibits free-spin behaviour. The saturation moment was found to be independent of temperature. Magnetic hyperfine patterns observed below 0.067 K were interpreted in terms of paramagnetic hyperfine interactions in the regime of slow electronic relaxation.     

A reanalysis of the specific heat of some dilute Au-V alloys

It is shown that the impurity contribution to the electronic specific heat of Au-V alloys is proportional to the concentration, if a change in the lattice contribution is assumed in the alloys.     

Magnetic field dependence of the impurity specific heat in dilute magnetic alloys

Using a trial sunction scheme at finite temperature, the impurity specific heat has been calculated in terms of the Wolff model with an external magnetic field. When local moments exist, the magnetic field effect is drastic under accessible experimental condition. In the absence of local moments, the specific heat is practically field independent. If accurate specific heat can be measured, it provides a new method to detect local moments in dilute magnetic alloys.     

Magnetic susceptibility of (La,Ce) Al2 alloys

The low-field magnetic susceptibility of (La, Ce)Al₂ alloys with 1–20 at-% Ce was measured between 0.04 and 4 K. Up to 1.5 at-% Ce the impurity contribution to the susceptibility exhibits features which can be described in terms of a combined influence of the crystalline electric field and the Kondo effect. At very low temperatures the onset of interactions between the Ce impurities is indicated. The impurity coupling interactions determine the dependence on temperature and concentration of the more concentrated alloys. For the dilute alloys the impurity magnetization was determined from measurements of the susceptibility in magnetic fields up to 10 kOe. The magnetization as a function of temperature and field shows a typical anomaly which has been observed also in other Kondo systems.