Thermopower of the light heavy-fermion compound YbMgCu4 in the region of its homogeneity

The thermopower coefficient S of the light heavy-fermion system YbMgCu₄ and, for comparison, the thermopower coefficient of metallic LuMgCu₄ are measured in the temperature range 5–300 K. It is shown that the YbMgCu₄ compound has a fairly broad region of homogeneity. The obtained data on the temperature dependence of the thermopower coefficient S for the YbMgCu₄ compound confirm that this compound belongs to heavy-fermion systems. The Kondo temperature of YbMgCu₄ is shown to depend on the unit cell parameter in the region of its homogeneity.     

Specific heat and velocity of sound in a moderate heavy-fermion compound YbZnCu4

The specific heat at a constant pressure (C _p) and the velocity of sound (v) are measured for a moderate heavy-fermion compound YbZnCu₄ in the temperature range 3.5–250 K and at 77 K, respectively. The experimental values of C _p and v obtained in this study and the phonon thermal conductivity previously measured in the temperature range 5–300 K are used to calculate the phonon mean free path l for this compound. The temperature dependence of the phonon mean free path l thus determined is characteristic of classical amorphous materials.     

Thermal conductivity of a moderate heavy-fermion compound YbZnCu4

The thermal conductivity κ and electrical resistivity ρ of a cast polycrystalline sample of YbZnCu₄, which belongs to the class of moderately heavy-fermion compounds, are measured and studied in the temperature range 5–300 K. It is shown that the phonon thermal conductivity of the sample follows an amorphous-like pattern throughout the temperature range under investigation, which should be assigned to the presence of Yb ions with a homogeneous mixed valence in this compound. The temperature dependence ρ(T) has two specific portions: a high-temperature portion (T > 220 K) characteristic of conventional metals and a moderate-temperature portion (14–35 K) typical of Kondo compounds.     

Thermoelectric power of quasi-one-dimensional Nb3X4 with X=S, Se andTe

The thermoelectric power of linear chain synthetic metals Nb₃X₄ (with X=S, Se and Te) was measured from 5 to 300 K. The thermopower is negative indicating a dominant transport by electrons. Common to three compounds, in lower temperature regions the thermopower rises linearly with temperature but soon saturates. With respect to Nb₃S₄ and Nb₃Se₄ we have found no special anomaly of the thermopower except for a little higher magnitude.With respect to Nb₃Te₄ anomalies in the thermopower vs temperature appear at about 80 and 20 K which are explained in terms of the charge- density-wave phase transition from the simultaneous measurement of the resistivity and the observation of the electron diffraction patterns.     

Heat capacity of LuZnCu<Subscript>4</Subscript>

The heat capacity at constant pressure C _p for LuZnCu₄ is measured in the temperature 3–250 K. The parameter γ, i.e., the coefficient of the linear-in-temperature term of the electronic component of heat capacity, is determined. The contribution of the magnetic component of the heat capacity to C _p(T) of YbZnCu₄ is estimated from the available data on the heat capacity of YbZnCu₄ and the experimental data obtained for LuZnCu₄.     

Thermal conductivity of a moderate heavy-fermion compound YbIn0.2Ag0.8Cu4

The thermal conductivity κ and electrical resistivity ρ of a cast polycrystalline sample of YbIn_0.2Ag_0.8Cu₄, which belongs to the class of moderate heavy-fermion compounds, are measured in the temperature range 5–300 K. It is shown that the phonon thermal conductivity of the sample follows an amorphous-like pattern throughout the temperature range covered, which should be assigned to the presence of Yb ions with a homogeneous mixed valence in this compound. The temperature dependence ρ(T) is divided into three portions: a high-temperature portion characteristic of conventional metals, a medium-temperature portion typical of Kondo compounds, and a low-temperature portion corresponding to a coherent Kondo lattice (the heavy-fermion regime). The Kondo temperature is estimated.     

Heavy fermion behaviour of the nonmagnetic CeCu4Al compound

We present measurements of the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity, the thermopower and the specific heat of the hexagonal compound CeCu₄Al. At high temperatures, the electrical resistivity is characterized by a nearly temperature independent behaviour, followed by a continuous increase below 100K. No maximum has been found down to 1.7 K. The thermopower shows a positive maximum at about 30 K. As in CeCu₆ no negative values are observable in the range from 4.2 K up to a room temperature. The specific heat data between 7 and 15 K reveal a γ value around 280 mJ mol^-1 K^-2. Below this temperature range the specific heat c_p/T shows a rapid rise and crosses the value of 1 J mol^-1 K^-2 at about 1.45 K.     

Synthesis and physical characterization of superconductivity-magnetism crossover compound RuSr2EuCeCu2O10−δ

We carefully studied the nonsuperconducting sample of the magneto-superconducting RuSr₂(Eu_1−xCe_x)Cu₂O_10−δ series with composition RuSr₂EuCeCu₂O_10−δ. This compound seems to exhibit a complex magnetic state as revealed by host of techniques like resistivity, thermopower, magnetic susceptibility, and MR measurements. The studied compound exhibited ferromagnetic like M(H) loops at 5, 20, and 50 K, and semiconductor like electrical conduction down to 5 K, with −MR^7 T of up to 4% at low temperatures. The −MR^7 T decreases fast above 150 K and monotonically becomes close to zero above say 230 K. Below, 150 K −MR^7 T decreases to around 3% monotonically down to 75 K, with further increase to 4% at around 30 K and lastly having a slight decrease below this temperature. The thermopower S(T) behavior closely followed the −MR^7 T steps in terms of d(S/T)/dT slopes. Further, both MR^7 T steps and d(S/T)/dT slopes are found in close vicinity to various magnetic ordering temperatures (T_mag) of this compound.     

Thermokräfte abschreckend kondensierter Metallschichten

For the first time it is reported on the annealing behaviour of the thermopower of quenched condensed metal films, which are evaporated in vacuum at liquid helium temperatures. The measurements concern Pb- and Sn-films, Au- and Cu-films as well as Au-films with small amounts of Fe, and Bi-films between 2 and 300 °K. It is shown that in all quenched films the phonon drag part of thermopower S_g is completely suppressed. In Pb and Sn the part of thermopowerS _e caused by electron diffusion is not changed remarkably by quenching, whereas in Au- and Cu-films it is much greater than in bulk material up to 250 °K. Annealing at higher temperatures leads to an irreversible decrease ofS _e. The well known giant thermopower due to Fe-impurities in gold is very much reduced by quenching. The characteristic minima appear again after annealing of these films. Amorphous Bi-films have thermopowers which are comparable with those of Pb and Sn. After crystallisation the negative thermopower is much greater and increases with increasing temperature of annealing.     

Anomalous thermopower in heavy-fermion compounds CeB<Subscript>6</Subscript>, CeAl<Subscript>3</Subscript>, and CeCu<Subscript>6 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Au<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>

High-precision measurements of thermopower have been performed in a wide temperature range (2–300 K) for a series of cerium-based heavy-fermion compounds, including CeB₆, CeAl₃, CeCu₆, and substitutional solid solutions of the CeCu_{6 ? x} Au _x system (x = 0.1, 0.2). All compounds exhibit an unusual (logarithmic) asymptotic behavior of the temperature dependence of the Seebeck coefficient: S ∝ ?lnT. In the case of cerium hexaboride, this anomalous behavior of S(T) is accompanied by the appearance of weak-carrier-localization-mode asymptotics in the conductivity (σ(T) ∝ T ^0.39), while the paramagnetic susceptibility χ(T) and the effective mass of charge carriers m _eff(T) vary according to a power law (χ(T), m _eff(T) ∝ T ^?0.8) in the temperature interval T = 10–80 K. This behavior corresponds to renormalization of the density of states at the Fermi level. The observed anomalous behavior of thermopower in CeB₆ and other cerium-based intermetallic compounds is attributed to the formation of heavy fermions (many-body states in the metal matrix) at low temperatures.     

The influence of magnetic and structural heterogeneity on thermopower,magnetothermopower, electrical resistivity,and magnetoresistivity of Nd<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> manganite

The thermopower, S, magnetothermopower, ΔS/S, resistivity, ρ, and magnetoresistivity, Δρ/ρ, depending on the temperature T and magnetic field H, have been studied in an Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ single crystal consisting of three types of clusters: an antiferromagnetic CE-type with charge-orbital ordering (below the Neel temperature T_NCE ~ 145 K) and an A-type with T_NA ~ 220 K; a ferromagnetic at 234 ≤ T ≤ 252 K, and a ferromagnetic metal phase below the Curie temperature T_C = 248 K. The thermopower was found to be negative, indicating the dominance of the electronic type of conductivity. In the S(T) curves, a sharp minimum is observed in the temperature range of 100 K ≤ T ≤ 133 K, close to T_NCE, where the absolute S value attains 53 μV/K. With a further increase in temperature, the absolute S value decreases rapidly; at 200 K it is equal to 7 μV/K. It then slightly increases, reaching its maximum value of 15 μV/K at a temperature of 254 K, which is close to T_C. The absolute thermopower decreased under the influence of the magnetic field; i.e., a negative magnetothermopower occurs. In {ΔS/S}(T) curves, a sharp minimum is observed at T = 130 K close to T_NCE, where the magnetothermopower reaches a huge value of ~45% at H = 13.23 kOe. A broad minimum in the {ΔS/S}(T) curves is observed near the Curie temperature and its value is also high, viz., ~15% in the maximum measuring magnetic field of 13.23 kOe. The extremely high magnetothermopower values mean that the charge-orbital ordered nanoclusters or ferron type make the main contribution to the thermopower of the entire sample. The behavior of the ρ(T) and {Δρ/ρ}(T) curves is similar to that of the S(T) and {ΔS/S}(T) dependencies, which is in agreement with this conclusion.     

Behavior of the Lorenz number in the light heavy-fermion system YbInCu4

The electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity of two polycrystalline YbInCu₄ samples prepared by different techniques at the Ioffe Physicotechnical Institute, RAS (St. Petersburg, Russia), and the Goethe University (Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany) are studied within the temperature range 4.2–300 K. At T _v～75–78 K, these samples exhibited an isostructural phase transition from a state with an integer valence (at T>T _v) to a state with an intermediate valence (at T<T _v) of the Yb ions. It is shown that at T<T _v; i.e., in the temperature range where YbInCu₄ is assumed to be a light heavy-fermion compound, the Lorenz number behaves as it should in a classical heavy-fermion system. At T>T _v, where YbInCu₄ is a semimetal, the Lorenz number has a value characteristic of standard metals.     

Electrical properties of (SN)x films

The temperature dependence of the thermopower S and the conductivity σ of (SN)_x films has been investigated as a function of the substrate temperature during film deposition T_s. In contrast to the transport properties of SN_x films previously reported, films made with high T_s have metallic-like transport properties approaching those of (SN)_x crystals. For low substrate temperatures σ and S are found to increase strongly with rising temperature and thermopower values up to 0.9 mV/K are observed. This conduction behavior is explained by a heterogeneous model with areas having different electronic gaps. Annealing as well as decomposition effects suggest that the gap width is correlated to the (SN)_x chain length. No evidence was seen for superconductivity in these films.     

Magnetic anomalies in Gd2PdSi3

The results of ac and dc magnetic susceptibility, thermopower and Hall effect measurements of a compound, Gd₂PdSi₃, establish that this compound orders magnetically below T_n = 20 K. Though the ordering appears to be of an antiferromagnetic-type, the paramagnetic Curie temperature is positive with the magnitude being nearly the same as that of T_N, suggestive of the existence of ferromagnetic correlations. The thermopower at 300 K is large, apparently due to Pd 4d electrons, decreasing monotonically with temperature. There is a change in the sign of Hall constant well below T_N Also considering the observation of Kondo-like characteristics above 21K earlier by us, the overall thermal, transport and magnetic behaviour of this compound is interesting.     

Heat capacity and velocity of sound in the YbMgCu<Subscript>4</Subscript> “light” heavy-fermion system

This paper reports on a measurement of the heat capacity at constant pressure (C _p ) in the temperature range 3–320 K and the sound velocity (v) at 77 K for the “light” heavy-fermion compound YbMgCu₄. The present experimental data on C _p and v of YbMgCu₄, combined with our earlier phonon thermal conductivity data for YbMgCu₄ in the range 5–300 K, have been used to calculate the phonon mean free path l in this compound. The temperature dependence of l obtained is found to be characteristic of classical amorphous materials.     

Thermal conductivity and heat capacity of LuMgCu<Subscript>4</Subscript>

This paper reports on the measurements of the thermal conductivity κ and electrical resistivity ρ in the temperature range 5–300 K and the heat capacity at constant pressure C _p in the range 80–300 K for the metallic nonmagnetic compound LuMgCu₄. The experimental values of κ and C _p for the LuMgCu₄ compound are compared with the corresponding data available in the literature for the light heavy-fermion compound YbMgCu₄. It is shown that, in the low-temperature range (5–20 K), the phonon thermal conductivity κ_ph of YbMgCu₄ is lower than κ_ph of LuMgCu₄ as a result of phonon scattering from magnetic moment fluctuations of the Yb 4f electrons and, conversely, the heat capacity of LuMgCu₄ in the range 80–300 K is lower than that of YbMgCu₄ because the heat capacity of the latter compound has an additional magnetic component.     

Non-Fermi liquid behavior in polycrystalline Ce2PdIn8

We report on the formation of a novel ternary compound Ce₂PdIn₈ that is isostructural with the heavy-fermion superconductors Ce₂CoIn₈ and Ce₂RhIn₈. Its magnetic, electrical transport and thermodynamic properties were studied on polycrystalline samples in wide ranges of temperature and magnetic field strength. The results revealed Ce₂PdIn₈ to be a paramagnetic Kondo lattice with a coherence temperature of about 12 K. The C/T ratio of the specific heat reaches at 350 mK a strongly enhanced magnitude of about per Ce-atom, thus clearly indicating a heavy-fermion nature of this material. Moreover, a logarithmic divergence of C/T vs. T, observed below 3 K, which is accompanied by a linear temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity below 6 K, hint at a non-Fermi liquid character of the electronic ground state in the new compound reported.     

Heat capacity and thermopower coefficient of the carbon preform of sapele wood

This paper reports on measurements of the heat capacity at constant pressure C _p in the 80–300-K temperature interval and the thermopower coefficient S at 5–300 K of the carbon preform of sapele wood, which was prepared at the carbonization temperature of 1000°C. Measurements of C _p (T), our previous data on the phonon thermal conductivity, and literature information on the sound velocity have been used to calculate the phonon mean free path l(T) for this material. It has been shown that within the temperature interval 200–300 K, l is constant and equal to 11 Å, a figure matching the size of the nanocrystallites (“graphite fragments”) making up the carbon framework of the sapele carbon preform. The high-temperature parts of S(T) have been found to follow a linear course characteristic of diffusive thermopower for the degenerate state of charge carriers, with only one type of charge carriers present. The anisotropy of the thermopower coefficient has been estimated.     

Anisotropic thermopower of (TMTSF)2PF6: 1D–2D cross over and SDW ordering

The thermopower of (TMTSF)₂PF₆ has been measured along the a-axis as well as along the b-axis. Marked anisotropy is seen in the whole temperature region studied. Close to 100 K, an anomaly is attributed to cross over from dominating one-dimensionality to dominating two-dimensionality. Precursor effects seen in S_a near T_c are attributed to SDW fluctuations. Well below T_c, both thermopower components exhibit typical semiconducting properties.     

ESR study of the undoped heavy-fermion compound YbRh2Si2

The electron spin resonance (ESR) of the heavy-fermion metal YbRh₂Si₂ has been studied. The angular variation and the temperature dependence of the ESR line width have been measured in YbRh₂Si₂ single crystals in the temperature range of 4–25 K. The characteristic spin-fluctuation temperatureT ^* ～ 17 K estimated from these studies coincides very well with other experimental data. A well-behaved ESR signal due to local Yb³⁺ moments strongly supports the localized moment scenario for heavy-fermion quantum critical points.