Single crystal study of the heavy-fermion antiferromagnet CePt?In?

We report the synthesis, structure, and physical properties of single crystals of CePt(2)In(7). Single crystal x-ray diffraction analysis confirms the tetragonal I4/mmm structure of CePt(2)In(7) with unit cell parameters a = 4.5886(6) ?, c = 21.530(6) ? and V = 453.32(14) ?(3). The magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, Hall effect and electrical resistivity measurements are all consistent with CePt(2)In(7) undergoing an antiferromagnetic order transition at T(N) = 5.5 K, which is field independent up to 9 T. Above T(N), the Sommerfeld coefficient of specific heat is γ ≈ 300 mJ mol(-1) K(-2), which is characteristic of an enhanced effective mass of itinerant charge carriers. The electrical resistivity is typical of heavy-fermion behavior and gives a residual resistivity ρ(0) ～ 0.2 μΩ cm, indicating good crystal quality. CePt(2)In(7) also shows moderate anisotropy of the physical properties that is comparable to structurally related CeMIn(5) (M = Co, Rh, Ir) heavy-fermion superconductors.     

Magnetic and transport properties of Pr2Pd3Si5

We have investigated the magnetic and transport properties of a new ternary intermetallic compound Pr₂Pd₃Si₅ which forms in U₂Co₃Si₅-type orthorhombic structure (space group Ibam). At low field (0.01 T) magnetic susceptibility exhibits an abrupt increase below 7 K and peaks at 5 K, revealing a magnetic phase transition. The onset of magnetic order is also confirmed by well defined anomalies in the specific heat and electrical resistivity data. Apart from the sharp λ-type anomaly, magnetic part of specific heat also shows a broad Schottky-type hump due to crystal field effect. Magnetoresistance data as a function of temperature exhibits a pronounced peak in paramagnetic state which could be interpreted in terms of crystal field effect and short-range ferromagnetic correlations.     

CaPtAs: A new noncentrosymmetric superconductor

We report the discovery of a new noncentrosymmetric superconductor CaPtAs.It crystallizes in a tetragonal structure(space group I41md,No.109),featuring three dimensional honeycomb networks of Pt-As and a much elongated c-axis(a=b=4.18?,and c=43.70?).The superconductivity of CaPtAs with Tc=1.47 K was characterized by means of electrical resistivity,specific heat,and ac magnetic susceptibility.The electronic specific heat Ce(T)/T shows evidence for a deviation from the behavior of a conventional BCS superconductor,and can be reasonably fitted by a p-wave model.The upper critical fieldμ0Hc2 of CaPtAs exhibits a moderate anisotropy,with an in-plane value of around 204 mT and an out-of-plane value of 148 mT.Density functional theory calculations indicate that the Pt-5 d and As-4 p orbitals mainly contribute to the density of states near the Fermi level,showing that the Pt-As honeycomb networks may significantly influence the superconducting properties.     

Ferromagnetic ordering in alkali-metal iron antimonides: NaFe4Sb12 and KFe4Sb12

New alkali-metal compounds with the filled-skutterudite structure were synthesized and their chemical and physical properties investigated. X-ray diffraction, microprobe, and chemical analysis established the structure and the composition without defects on the cation site. Magnetization, ac susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity, and NMR or NQR demonstrated NaFe4Sb12 to be ferromagnetic below approximately 85 K and to exhibit an additional magnetic anomaly around 40 K. Band structure calculations find a large density of states at the Fermi energy and a ferromagnetic ground state. Similar behavior was observed for KFe4Sb12.     

Physical properties and anisotropies of the RNiGe3 series (R = Y, Ce-Nd, Sm, Gd-Lu)

We have studied RNiGe₃ (R=Y, Ce-Nd, Sm, Gd-Lu) single crystals by measuring crystal structure and stoichiometry, magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance, and specific heat. Clear anisotropies as well as antiferromagnetic ordering in the RNiGe₃ series (R=Ce-Nd, Sm, Gd-Tm) have been observed above 1.8 K from the magnetic susceptibility. A metamagnetic transition in this family (except for R=Sm) was detected at 2 K for applied magnetic fields below 70 kOe. The electrical resistivity of this series follows metallic behavior in the high temperature region. Below the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature a significant anisotropy is exhibited in the resistivity and magnetoresistance for different current directions. The anisotropic magnetic, transport, and thermal properties of RNiGe₃ compounds are discussed in terms of Ni site occupancy as well as a combination of the effect of formation of a magnetic superzone gap and the crystalline electric field.     

ZrCuSiAs型锰基化合物ThMnSbN中的化学压力效应

采用固相反应法合成了一种Zr Cu Si As型准二维层状锰基化合物Th Mn Sb N.基于X射线粉末衍射的结构精修显示,该化合物属于P4/nmm空间群.其晶胞参数为a=4.1731?, c=9.5160?.电输运测量显示,该化合物电阻率随温度下降缓慢上升,且在16 K附近出现电阻率异常.与此同时,该材料的磁化率在同一温度附近出现异常,显示出类似磁性相变的行为.进一步的比热测量中没有观察到磁相变导致的比热异常.另外,低温下的比热分析显示,该材料的电子比热系数为γ=19.7 m J·mol^–1·K^–2,远高于其他同类锰基化合物.该结果与电输运测量中观察到的低电阻率行为相符,暗示Th Mn Sb N中费米面附近存在可观的电子态密度.基于对一系列Zr Cu Si As型化合物晶体结构细节的比较,分析了含有萤石型Th₂N₂层的系列化合物中导电层所受化学压力的不同作用形式.     

Experimental study of the magnetic phase transition in the MnSi itinerant helimagnet

Magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, thermal expansion, and resistivity of a high-quality single crystal of MnSi were carefully studied at ambient pressure. The calculated change in magnetic entropy in the temperature range 0–30 K is less than 0.1R, a low value that emphasizes the itinerant nature of magnetism in MnSi. A linear temperature term dominates the behavior of the thermal expansion coefficient in the range 30–150 K, which correlates to a large enhancement of the linear electronic term in the heat capacity. A surprising similarity between variation of the heat capacity, the thermal expansion coefficient, and the temperature derivative of resistivity through the phase transition in MnSi is observed. Specific forms of the heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient, and temperature derivative of resistivity at the phase transition to a helical magnetic state near 29 K are interpreted as a combination of sharp first-order features and broad peaks or shallow valleys of yet unknown origin. The appearance of these broad satellites probably hints at a frustrated magnetic state in MnSi slightly above the transition temperature. Present experimental findings bring the current views on the phase diagram of MnSi into question. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Antiferromagnetic correlations in the cubic heavy fermion compound CeInCu2

CeInCu₂ is a heavy fermion compound close to magnetic instability. The electrical resistivity has aT ² behaviour between 1 and 2.5 K. and the AC field susceptibility has a faint maximum at 0.9 K, indicating the onset of coherence near 1 K for this compound. The magnetoresistance keeps a negative sign down to 0.3 K. Neutron inelastic scattering give a crystal field splitting of 90 K, with a doublet ground state, and a residual quasielastic linewidth of 0.3 meV.We have studied the resistivity, susceptibility and specific heat of some dilute solutions La_1–xCe_xInCu₂ and Y_1–xCe_xInCu₂. The spin-dependent part of the resistivity may be decomposed into a single impurity term plus a pair interaction term, the magnitude of which folows a Curie-Weiss law, as in classical spin glassesCuMn orAuFe.The magnetisation and susceptibility at low temperatures may be represented within the resonant level model, taking into account antiferromagnetic interactions. Finally, the specific heat of CeInCu₂ shows a bump near 2.3 K, absent for dilute solutions, which may also be interpreted by introducing a magnetic interaction term.     

Nonmagnetic ground states and phase transitions in the caged compounds PrT2Zn20 (T = Ru, Rh and Ir)

We performed electrical resistivity ρ, magnetic susceptibility χ, specific heat C and electron diffraction measurements on single-crystalline samples of PrT2Zn20 (T = Ru, Rh and Ir). The three compounds show the Van Vleck paramagnetic behavior, indicating the nonmagnetic crystalline electric field (CEF) ground states. A Schottky-type peak appears at around 14 K, irrespective of the T element, which can be moderately reproduced by a doublet–triplet model. For T = Ru, a structural transition occurs at Ts = 138 K, below which no phase transition appears down to 0.04 K. On the other hand, for T = Ir, antiferroquadrupole (AFQ) ordering arising from the nonmagnetic Γ3 doublet takes place at TQ = 0.11 K. For T = Rh, despite a structural transition between 170 and 470 K, the CEF ground state is still the non-Kramers Γ3 doublet. However, no phase transition due to the Γ3 doublet was observed even down to 0.1 K.     

Superconductivity in the platinum germanides MPt4Ge12 (M = rare-earth or alkaline-earth metal) with filled skutterudite structure

New germanium-platinum compounds with the filled-skutterudite crystal structure were synthesized. The crystal structure and composition were investigated by x-ray diffraction and microprobe analysis. Magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, and electrical resistivity measurements evidence superconductivity in LaPt4Ge12 and PrPt4Ge12 below 8.3 K. The parameters of the normal and superconducting states were established. Strong coupling and a crystal electric field singlet ground state is found for the Pr compound. Electronic structure calculations show a large density of states at the Fermi level. Similar behavior with lower Tc was observed for SrPt4Ge12 and BaPt4Ge12.     

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.     

Unusual single-ion non-fermi-liquid behavior in Ce(1-x)LaxNi9Ge4

We report on specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, and resistivity measurements on the compound Ce(1-x)LaxNi9Ge4 for various concentrations ranging from the stoichiometric system with x = 0 to the dilute limit x = 0.95. Our data reveal single-ion scaling with the Ce concentration and the largest ever recorded value of the electronic specific heat Deltac/T approximately 5.5 J K-2 mol(-1) at T = 0.08 K for the stoichiometric compound x = 0 without any trace of magnetic order. While in the doped samples Deltac/T increases logarithmically below 3 K down to 50 mK, their magnetic susceptibility behaves Fermi-liquid-like below 1 K. These properties make the compound Ce(1-x)LaxNi9Ge4 a unique system on the borderline between Fermi-liquid and non-Fermi-liquid physics.     

Anisotropic magnetic properties and superzone gap formation in CeGe single crystal

Single crystals of CeGe and its non-magnetic analog LaGe have been grown by the Czochralski method. The CeGe compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic FeB-type crystal structure with the space group Pnma (#62). The anisotropic magnetic properties have been investigated for well oriented single crystals by measuring the magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity and heat capacity. It has been found that CeGe orders antiferromagnetically at 10.5?K. Both transport and magnetic studies have revealed large anisotropy, reflecting the orthorhombic crystal structure. The magnetization data at 1.8?K reveal metamagnetic transitions along the [010] direction at 4.8 and 6.4?T and along the [100] direction at a critical field of 10.7?T, while the magnetization along the [001] direction increases linearly without any anomaly up to a field of 16?T. From the magnetic susceptibility and the magnetization measurements it has been found that the [010] direction is the easy axis of magnetization. The electrical resistivity along the three crystallographic directions exhibits an upturn at T(N), indicating superzone gap formation below T(N) in this compound. We have performed crystal electric field analysis on the magnetic susceptibility and the heat capacity data and found that the ground state is a doublet, and the energies of splitting from the ground state to the first and second excited doublet states were estimated to be 39 and 111?K, respectively.     

Signatures of spin-glass behaviour in PrIr2B2 and heavy fermion behaviour in PrIr2B2C

The magnetic and transport properties of PrIr(2)B(2) and PrIr(2)B(2)C have been investigated by dc and ac magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, electrical resistivity and magnetoresistance measurements. PrIr(2)B(2) forms in CaRh(2)B(2)-type orthorhombic crystal structure (space group Fddd). At low fields the dc magnetic susceptibility of PrIr(2)B(2) exhibits a sharp anomaly near 46 K which is followed by an abrupt increase below 10 K with a peak at 6 K, and split-up in ZFC and FC data below 46 K. In contrast, the specific heat exhibits only a broad Schottky type hump near 9 K which indicates that there is no long range magnetic order in this compound. The thermo-remanent magnetization is found to decay very slowly with a mean relaxation time τ = 3917 s. An ac magnetic susceptibility measurement also observes two sharp anomalies; the peak positions strongly depend on the frequency and shift towards high temperature with an increase in frequency, obeying the Vogel-Fulcher law as expected for a canonical spin-glass system. The two spin-glass transitions occur at freezing temperatures T(f1) = 36 K and T(f2) = 3.5 K with shifts in the freezing temperatures per decade of frequency δT(f1) = 0.044 and δT(f2) = 0.09. An analysis of the frequency dependence of the transition temperature with critical slowing down, τ(max)/τ(0) = [(T(f)-T(SG))/T(SG)](-zν), gives τ(0) = 10(-7) s and exponent zν = 8, and the Vogel-Fulcher law gives an activation energy of 84 K for T(f1) and 27.5 K for T(f2). While zν = 8 is typical for spin-glass system, the characteristic relaxation time τ(0) = 10(-7) s is very large and comparable to that of superspin-glass systems. An addition of C in PrIr(2)B(2) leads to PrIr(2)B(2)C which forms in LuNi(2)B(2)C-type tetragonal structure (space group I4/mmm) and remains paramagnetic down to 2 K. The specific heat data show a broad Schottky type anomaly, which could be fairly reproduced with CEF analysis which suggests that the ground state is a CEF-split singlet and the first excited state singlet is situated 15 K above the ground state. The Sommerfeld coefficient γ～300 mJ mol(-1) K(-2) of PrIr(2)B(2)C is very high and reflects a heavy fermion behaviour in this compound. We believe that the heavy fermion state in PrIr(2)B(2)C has its origin in low lying crystal field excitations as has been observed in PrRh(2)B(2)C.     

Antiferromagnetism and the Kondo behaviour in Ce(Pt1−xPdx)Ga

We present the results of lattice parameters at room temperature, the static magnetic susceptibility and the magnetic resistivity between 1.8 and 300 K, and the low-temperature specific-heat measurements for the series Ce(Pt_1−xPd_x)Ga, (x=0.0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8 and 1.0). Two maxima in the temperature dependence of the magnetic resistive curve for each sample are observed, one above 100 K, and another at around 4 K, which due to an interplay between crystal-field effect and the Kondo effect. As determined from the peak values of the temperature dependence of the specific heat data C(T), all samples exhibit antiferromagnetic ordering from 1.3 K for CePdGa to 3.4 K for CePtGa. The large reduction of entropy for each sample below T_N is associated with the Kondo effect.     

Physical properties of the β-Ti6Sn5 system

The current work reports the specific heat, the resistivity and the magnetic susceptibility of both single-crystal and polycrystalline β-Ti₆Sn₅ at cryogenic temperatures. The effects of small additions of magnetic and non-magnetic impurities were examined. Resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal that the undoped material is a Pauli paramagnet displaying Fermi-liquid behaviour, while ferromagnetic ordering was observed at T150K with small additions of Ce, La or Co. Analysis of the electronic specific heat γ and magnetic susceptibility gives an unexpectedly large Wilson ratio R _w of 1.76, a value indicative of correlated electron behaviour. We present the general physical properties and based on the sensitivity of the magnetic properties to doping, show evidence that β-Ti₆Sn₅ exhibits a ground state in close proximity to a non-magnetic and magnetic phase boundary.     

Combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the premartensitic transition in Ni2MnGa

Ultraviolet-photoemission (UPS) measurements and supporting specific-heat, thermal-expansion, resistivity, and magnetic-moment measurements are reported for the magnetic shape-memory alloy Ni2MnGa over the temperature range 100T(PM) is due to the Ni d minority-spin electrons. Below T(M) this peak disappears, resulting in an enhanced density of states at energies around 0.8 eV. This enhancement reflects Ni d and Mn d electronic contributions to the majority-spin density of states.     

Low temperature thermodynamical properties of ErCu2Si2

ErCu₂Si₂ crystallises in the tetragonal ThCr₂Si₂-type crystal structure. In this paper results of magnetometric, electrical transport, specific heat as well as neutron diffraction are reported. Results of electrical resistivity and specific heat measurements performed at low temperature yield existence of magnetic ordering roughly at 1.3 K. These results are in concert with neutron diffraction measurements, which reveal simple antiferromagnetic ordering between 0.47 and 1.00 K. At temperatures ranging from 1.00 up to 1.50 K an additional incommensurate magnetic structure was observed. The propagation vector k=(0;0;0.074) was proposed to describe magnetic reflections within the amplitude modulated magnetic structure. Basing on specific heat studies the crystal field levels splitting scheme and magnetic entropy were calculated.     

Electrical and thermal properties in CuV2S4

The successive phase transitions of the cubic spinel structure CuV₂S₄ have been studied by the electrical resistivity and the specific heat. In the resistivity and the specific heat two anomalies have been observed at T₁～91 K and T₃≈55 K. The specific heat indicates that the phase transition at T₁ is in the vicinity of a tricritical point, where the resistivity has a small sharp peak. On the other hand, the specific heat shows a step at T₃, where a hysteresis of the resistivity indicates the existence of the first-order phase transition.     

Magnetic and electrical properties of EuPdGe3

We report on the formation and the low-temperature physical properties of a novel compound EuPdGe₃ that crystallizes with the tetragonal BaNiSn₃-type crystal structure. The material exhibits antiferromagnetic ordering below T_N=12.4 K, as inferred from the magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity and electrical resistivity data. The compound shows good metallic conductivity.