Local moments and magnetic ordering in transition metals

Stoner theory predicts a complete collapse of the local magnetic moment at the Curie temperature. In this paper, the effect of local moment formation in the non-magnetic state is discussed. The energy between the magnetic and non-magnetic state is found to be considerably reduced. This observation is consistent with the low observed magnetic ordering temperatures of the 3d metals when compared to the values derived from band theory.     

Absence of long-range magnetic ordering in the pyrochlore compound Er2Sn2O7

The low temperature behaviour of powder Er2Sn2O7 samples has been studied by magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, and neutron scattering experiments. We report here the absence of magnetic ordering down to 100 mK. Anomalies in the heat capacity can be accounted for through an analysis of the crystal field spectrum observed by inelastic neutron scattering spectroscopy. These new measurements on Er2Sn2O7 suggest a new lower bound for the frustration index of f = |Θ(CW)|/T(N) = 14/0.1 = 140, placing this compound into a highly frustrated regime.     

Domain formation and orbital ordering transition in a doped Jahn-Teller insulator

The ground state of a double-exchange model for orbitally degenerate e(g) electrons with Jahn-Teller lattice coupling and weak disorder is found to be spatially inhomogeneous near half filling. Using a real-space Monte Carlo method we show that doping the half-filled orbitally ordered insulator leads to the appearance of hole-rich disordered regions in an orbitally ordered environment. The doping driven orbital order to disorder transition is accompanied by the emergence of metallic behavior. We present results on transport and optical properties along with spatial patterns for lattice distortions and charge densities, providing a basis for an overall understanding of the low-doping phase diagram of La1 - xCaxMnO3.     

Field induced magnetic ordering transition in Kondo insulators

We study the 2D Kondo insulators in a uniform magnetic field using quantum Monte Carlo simulations of the particle-hole symmetric Kondo lattice model and a mean field analysis of the Periodic Anderson model. We find that the field induces a transition to an insulating, antiferromagnetically ordered phase with staggered moment in the plane perpendicular to the field. For fields in excess of the quasi-particle gap, corresponding to a metal in a simple band picture of the periodic Anderson model, we find that the metallic phase is unstable towards the spin density wave type ordering for any finite value of the interaction strength. This can be understood as a consequence of the perfect nesting of the particle and hole Fermi surfaces that emerge as the field closes the gap. We propose a phase diagram and investigate the quasi-particle and charge excitations in the magnetic field. We find good agreement between the mean-field and quantum Monte Carlo results.Received: 17 December 2003, Published online: 8 June 2004PACS: 71.27. + a Strongly correlated electron systems; heavy fermions - 71.10.Fd Lattice fermion models (Hubbard model, etc.) - 71.30. + h Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions - 75.30.Mb Valence fluctuation, Kondo lattice, and heavy-fermion phenomena - 75.30.Fv Spin-density waves     

Crystal structure and magnetic ordering of RNi Si compounds

The element distributions and the magnetic ordering behaviour of compounds RNi₁₀Si₂ (R = Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm) have been studied by neutron powder diffraction down to temperatures of 1.6 K. The compounds crystallize in an ordered variant of the ThMn₁₂ structure type in the tetragonal space group P4/nmm. An ordered 1:1 distribution of Ni and Si on sites 4d and 4e, respectively, corresponds to a modulation vector [0, 0, 1] with respect to the space group I4/mmm of the ThMn₁₂ structure. TbNi₁₀Si₂ orders antiferromagnetically below T _N = 4.5 K with a magnetic propagation vector of [0, 0, 1/2]. The magnetic Tb moments, 8.97(2) /Tb atom at 1.6 K, are aligned along the c-axis. The Ni sites in TbNi₁₀Si₂ do not carry any ordered magnetic moments. The compounds with R = Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm are paramagnetic down to 1.6 K and 3.0 K, respectively. Received 10 July 2002 / Received in final form 12 September 2002 Published online 29 October 2002     

Valence transition behavior of the doped Falicov-Kimball model at nonzero temperatures

The extrapolation of small-cluster exact-diagonalization calculations is used to study the influence of doping on valence transitions in the spinless Falicov-Kimball model at nonzero temperatures. Two types of doping are examined, and namely, the substitution of rare-earth ions by nonmagnetic ions that introduce (i) one or (ii) none additional electron (per nonmagnetic ion) into the conduction band. It is found that the first type of substitution increases the average f-state occupancy of rare-earth ions, whereas the second type of substitution has the opposite effect. The results obtained are used to describe valence transition behavior of samarium in the hexaboride solid solutions Sm_1−xM_xB₆ (M=Y³⁺, La³⁺, Sr²⁺, Yb²⁺) and a very good agreement of theoretical and experimental results is found.     

First order magnetic transition in doped CeFe2 alloys: phase coexistence and metastability

First order ferromagnetic (FM) to antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase transition in doped CeFe2 alloys is studied with the micro-Hall probe technique. Clear visual evidence of magnetic phase coexistence on micrometer scales and the evolution of this phase coexistence as a function of temperature, magnetic field, and time across the first order FM-AFM transition is presented. Such phase coexistence and metastability arise as a natural consequence of an intrinsic disorder-influenced first order transition. The generality of these phenomena involving other classes of materials is discussed.     

Magnetic ordering in HoRu2Si2, HoRh2Si2, TbRh2Si2 and TbIr2Si2 by neutron diffraction

Neutron diffraction study of polycrystalline HoRu₂Si₂, HoRh₂Si₂, TbRh₂Si₂, and TbIr₂Si₂ was performed in the temperature range between 4.2 and 300 K. For HoRu₂Si₂ the magnetic spin alignment of a linear transverse wave mode below the Néel temperature 19 K is observed. This static moment wave is propagating along the b-axis with k=(0, 0.2, 0) and is polarized in the c-axis. The root-mean-square and maximum saturation moments per Ho atom are 9.26 and 13.09μ_B, respectively. HoRh₂Si₂, TbRh₂Si₂ an TbIr₂Si₂ are simple collinear antiferromagnets of +-+- type with Néel temperatures of (27±1), (98±2) and (72±3) K, respectively. For TbRh₂Si₂ and TbIr₂Si₂ magnetic moments are localized on RE ions only and are aligned along the tetragonal axis, while for HoRh₂Si₂ they form an angle ø = (28±3)°.     

Magnetooptics and magnetic ordering in ferrite nanoparticles in glass doped with iron and rare-earth elements

Magnetic circular dichroism and X-ray diffraction were used to investigate the structure and magnetooptical properties of nanoparticles formed in potassium-aluminum-germanium-boron glass doped with iron and rare-earth elements. It is demonstrated that in thermally processed glass, the main magnetic phase of the formed nanoparticles is γ-Fe₂O₃ maghemite.     

Complex magnetic behavior in Ce5Rh4Sn10 doped with La

Ce₅Rh₄Sn₁₀ is known as a heavy-fermion antiferromagnet with magnetic-ordering temperature T _N2?=?4.3?K. We report a new antiferromagnetic phase transition at T _N1?=?1.4?K. In the series of Ce_1?x La _x Rh₄Sn₁₀ compounds both magnetic phase transitions at T _N1 and T _N2 shift towards lower temperatures. For Ce₃La₂Rh₄Sn₁₀ and Ce_3.5La_1.5Rh₄Sn₁₀ we found only one transition. In the temperature region T _N1<T<T _N2, the magnetization M measured as a function of magnetic field H exhibits a large jump at very low fields of ～0.03?T with a very small hysteresis loop. This abnormal behavior could be due to spin-flip transitions. Thermodynamical properties of the series of Ce_1?x La _x Rh₄Sn₁₀ compounds are discussed in terms of the antiferromagnetic Kondo lattice.     

Flicker noise in degenerately doped Si single crystals near the metal-insulator transition

In this paper we report some of the important results of experimental investigations of the flicker noise near the metal-insulator (MI) transition in doped silicon single crystals. This is the first comprehensive work to study low-frequency noise in heavily doped Si over an extensive temperature range (2 K<T<500 K). The measurements of conductance fluctuations (flicker noise) were carried out in the frequency range 10⁻²<f<4 × 10¹ Hz in single crystalline Si across the MI transition by doping with phosphorous and boron. The magnitude of noise in heavily doped Si is much larger than that seen in lightly doped Si over the whole temperature range. The extensive temperature range covered allowed us to detect two distinct noise mechanisms. At low temperatures (T<100 K) universal conductance fluctuations (UCF) dominate and the spectral dependence of the noise is determined by dephasing the electron from defects with two-levels (TLS). At higher temperatures (T>200 K) the noise arises from activated defect dynamics. As the MI transition is approached, the 1/f spectral power, typical of the metallic regime, gets modified by the presence of discrete Lorentzians which arise from generation-recombination process which is the characteristic of a semiconductor.     

Interplay between fermi surface topology and ordering in URu2Si2 revealed through abrupt hall coefficient changes in strong magnetic fields

Temperature- and field-dependent measurements of the Hall effect of pure and 4% Rh-doped URu2Si2 reveal low density (0.03 hole/U) high mobility carriers to be unique to the "hidden order" phase and consistent with an itinerant density-wave order parameter. The Fermi surface undergoes a series of abrupt changes as the magnetic field is increased. When combined with existing de Haas-van Alphen data, the Hall data expose a strong interplay between the stability of the "hidden order," the degree of polarization of the Fermi liquid, and the Fermi surface topology.     

Superconducting transition temperature of a paramagnetic material close to magnetic ordering

An explicit expression for the superconducting transition temperatureT _c in a paramagnetic material is derived, when the transition occurs just before a possible magnetic ordering. As first noted by Uspenskii, such a transition may arise from electronic mechanism itself, without the necessary role played by the usual phonon-exchange mechanism. The result is discussed in terms of some recent experimental observations on the binary alloy Y₉Co₇.     

Dependence of magnetic ordering temperature of doped and undoped EuFe2As2 on hydrostatic pressure to 0.8 GPa

The ac susceptibility of single crystalline tetragonal EuFe₂As₂, EuFe₂As_1.4P_0.6, and EuFe_1.715Co_0.285As₂ has been measured over the temperature and hydrostatic (He-gas) pressure ranges 10–60 K and 0–0.8 GPa, respectively. For all three samples the magnetic ordering temperature (17–19 K) from the Eu sublattice increases linearly with pressure, presumably due to the enhanced exchange coupling between Eu-layers. No evidence for a superconducting transition was observed in the susceptibility for any sample over the measured temperature/pressure range.