Magnetoresistivity of the Kondo-system (La,Ce)B6

The electrical resistivity of the Kondo system (La, Ce)B₆ has been measured in longitudinal and transversal magnetic fields up to 6 Tesla in the temperature range 0.04–20K. Corresponding to the strong increase of the resistivity with decreasing temperature the alloys show a very large negative magnetoresistivity with a Kondo temperatureT _K =1.05K and a Kondo magnetic fieldB _K =1.1 Tesla. The observed anisotropy of the resistivity due to the magnetic field direction cannot be explained well by existing theories.     

Spin-glass behavior of (La,Gd)B6 alloys

The low-frequency ac magnetic susceptibility of (La_1–x Gd _x )B₆ alloys (0.0035x0.0812) was measured between 0.04 and 10 K in very low and moderate applied magnetic fields up to 8 kOe. In addition, the low-field static susceptibility was measured between 4.2 and 200 K. At low temperatures the alloys exhibit the basic features of the spin glass state, that is sharp maxima and time dependent effects in the low-field ac susceptibility. The temperature and field dependence of the susceptibility follows a law of corresponding states forx0.01, which is characteristic for Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interactions. Effects from interactions between the Gd ions observed above the freezing temperature are consistent with a recent theory based on a virial expansion of the magnetic free energy for the RKKY model and yield |J|=0.04 eV for the magnitude of thes–f exchange integral. The same value is obtained from the initial susceptibility atT0 when compared with a molecular-field result. Above 1 K the initial susceptibility follows a single-impurity Curie law with the free-ion value of the magnetic moment of the Gd solute.     

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.     

Disappearance of the kondo effect of Ce impurities in (La,Th) based alloys

We present an experimental study of the resistivity at low temperature of (La, Th) based alloys with Ce impurities. We observe a logarithmic behaviour of the resistivity vs temperature at low concentration of Th. When we increase the concentration of Th, the magnetic resistivity is no longer logarithmic but linear with T, and at still higher concentrations of Th, the anomaly in the resistivity disappears. Moreover, the curve of the slope of the logarithmic resistivity vs the concentration of Th goes through a maximum for 20% Th before vanishing for 50% Th.     

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.     

Kondo anomalies of heat conductivity and Lorenz ratio in normal state (La,Ce) Al2

The thermal conductivity of LaAl₂ and of two dilute (La, Ce)Al₂ alloys was measured in the normal state between 0.4 and 8 K. From the lattice conductivity of LaAl₂ a high dislocation densityN _d caused by the arc melting process can be inferred. After annealingN _d is reduced by an order of magnitude. For the (La, Ce)Al₂ samples minima are observed at 5 K in theW ^e ·T vs.T curves (W ^e =electronic thermal resistivity). Below 1 K the quantityW ^e ·T is linear in (— lnT). The electronic Lorenz ratioL ^e (T)=ρ(T)/W ^e (T) ·T shows a maximum at 2 K with a value 23% aboveL ^e (0). It is for the first time that this Kondo anomaly is established in its full temperature dependence.     

Clarifying the basic phase structure and magnetic behavior of directly quenched (Ce,La)2Fe14B alloys with various Ce/La ratios

To improve the performance/cost ratio of NdFeB based permanent magnets, Ce or/and La substitutions for Nd have been suggested. To better understand the effects of these substitutions, the fundamental behavior of (Ce,La)-Fe-B alloys has to be clearly understood. Here, we reported a systematic investigation on the phase structure, microstructure, and magnetic properties of melt-spun (Ce,La)₂Fe₁₄B alloys. The results confirm that partial substitution of Ce by La can effectively enhance the hard magnetism and thermal stability of (Ce_1-xLa_x)₂Fe₁₄B alloys, while over 80% La substitution leads to the decomposition of 2:14:1 phase. The lattice parameters a, c and the Curie temperature T_c of 2:14:1 phase increase linearly with the increasing La content. La substitution can effectively refine the grain, resulting in the enhancement of inter-grain exchange coupling. The (Ce_0.7La_0.3)₂Fe₁₄B alloy with a mean grain size of 25 nm exhibits high remanence, maximum energy product and intrinsic coercivity up to 0.69 T, 6.2 MGOe and 217 kA/m, respectively. The present work provides a good understanding on the melt-spun (Ce,La)-Fe-B system for further developing low cost rare earth permanent magnets.     

Exchange interaction and crystal field splitting of (La,Gd)B6 single crystals

The ESR on single crystals of (La, Gd)B₆ (c500 ppm) is reported. The splitting of Gd is determined as 50 mK. Theg-shift g=+0.018 and thermal broadeningb=9G/K show that in LaB₆ the conduction electrons are predominantly localized at the La site.     

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.     

Tunneling density of states of the Kondo superconductor (La1−x Ce x )Al2

Tunneling measurements on (La_1?x Ce _x )Al₂ single crystals (x=0; 0.001; 0.002) were performed at 0.1 K. Heavily dopedp-type GaAs/Zn acts as normal conducting counterelectrode where the Schottky-barrier provides the insulating layer for tunneling. Contact between counterelectrode and sample surface is not made before cooling down to 1 K. Contamined surface layers can be pierced mechanically at 0.1 K. The extremely gapless behaviour agrees with an impurity band positiony ₀<0.8 for localized exited states, although no detailed structure can be resolved.     

Single-Ion Kondo scaling of the coherent Fermi liquid regime in Ce(1-x)La(x)Ni2Ge2

Thermodynamic and transport properties of the La-diluted Kondo lattice CeNi(2)Ge(2) were studied in a wide temperature range. The Ce-rich alloys Ce(1-x)La(x)Ni(2)Ge(2) were found to exhibit distinct features of the coherent heavy Fermi liquid. At intermediate compositions (0.7≤x≤0.9), non-Fermi liquid properties have been observed, followed by the local Fermi liquid behavior in the dilute limit. The 4f-electron contribution to the specific heat was found to follow the predictions of the Kondo-impurity model in both the local as well as the coherent regimes, with the characteristic Kondo temperature decreasing rapidly from about 30 K for the parent compound CeNi(2)Ge(2) to about 1 K in the most dilute samples. The specific heat does not show any evidence for the emergence of a new characteristic energy scale related to the formation of the coherent Kondo lattice.     

Pressure effect on magnetic properties of RCo12B6 (R=Y,Ce) compounds

The effect of pressure on magnetic properties of YCo₁₂B₆ and CeCo₁₂B₆ was studied in temperature range 5–300 K at pressures up to 9 kbar. The Curie temperature T_C and spontaneous magnetization M_S decrease with pressure for both compounds. The decrease can be attributed mostly to the volume dependence of both, the Co magnetic moment and the exchange interactions. The hybridization of the p–d states as a consequence of small distances between the Co and B atoms can be one reason of the relatively low pressure effects (ΔT_C/Δp=?0.39±0.02 K/kbar, d ln M_S/dp=?0.0013±0.0002 kbar^?1) in YCo₁₂B₆. Higher volume sensitivity of magnetic properties of CeCo₁₂B₆ in comparison with YCo₁₂B₆ can be attributed to the pressure induced changes of the Ce f- and Co d-states.     

Superconducting transition temperature,its pressure dependence and structural transformation in (La,Ce)Ru2 alloys

The superconducting transition temperature and its dependence on hydrostatic pressure to 22 kbar have been determined for a series of (La, Ce)Ru₂ alloys. The variations of these quantities with composition are found to be generally related; however, specific irregularities in the curve of dT_c/dp versus composition are not reflected in the smooth variation of the transition temperature T_c. Some features of dT_c/dp may be correlated with the occurrence of a cubic-tetragonal transformation at low temperatures.     

Magnetic anisotropy of the antiferroquadrupole phase in Ce0.50La0.50B6

Magnetic phase diagrams for antiferroquadrupole (AFQ) phase II and antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase III in Ce0.50La0.50B6 with a Gamma(8) ground state have been investigated by ultrasonic measurements. The hybrid magnet (Gama) in the National Institute for Materials Science was employed for high-field measurements up to 30 T and a 3He-4He dilution refrigerator was used for low-temperature experiments down to 20 mK. The phase boundary from paramagnetic phase I to AFQ phase II under [001] magnetic fields closes at H(I-II) approximately 29 T, while the boundary is still open under fields along the [110] and [111] directions even up to 30 T. This anisotropic character of phase II in fields is consistent with the theoretical calculation based on the O(xy)-type AFQ ordering. We also found that AFM phase III reduces considerably in fields turning from the [001] to [110] and [111] directions.     

Normal state electrical resistance behavior and superconducting transition temperatures in (La,Ce)Ru2 alloys

A correlation between the shape of electrical resistance-temperature curves and the superconducting transition temperature of (La, Ce)Ru₂ alloys has been established.     

Hyperfine interaction of Ce and La in 3-d ferromagnets

NMR/ON measurements on¹⁴¹CeFe show the sign of the hyperfine field of CeFe to be negative. For the¹⁴¹Ce nucleus a g-factor of ¦g_N¦=0.311±0.011 is found. With this g-value a hyperfine field of H_hf=?41±2 T for CeFe is derived. Low temperature nuclear orientation experiments on¹⁴¹CeCo and¹⁴⁰LaFe yield ¦H_hf¦=30±3 T and ¦H_hf¦=46±5 T respectively. The valence of cerium impurities in Fe, Co and Ni is discussed.