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We report that nonmagnetic heavy-fermion (HF) iron oxypnictide CeFePO with two-dimensional XY-type anisotropy shows a metamagnetic behavior at the metamagnetic field H_M simeq 4 T perpendicular to the c-axis and that a critical behavior is observed around H_M. Although the magnetic character is entirely different from that in other Ce-based HF metamagnets, H_M in these metamagnets is linearly proportional to the inverse of the effective mass, or to the temperature where the susceptibility shows a peak. This finding suggests that H_M is a magnetic field breaking the local Kondo singlet, and the critical behavior around H_M is driven by the Kondo breakdown accompanied by the Fermi-surface instability.
Physical properties of polycrystalline CeCrGe$_{3}$ and LaCrGe$_{3}$ have been investigated by x-ray absorption spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility $chi(T)$, isothermal magnetization M(H), electrical resistivity $rho(T)$, specific heat C($T$) and thermoelectric power S($T$) measurements. These compounds are found to crystallize in the hexagonal perovskite structure (space group textit{P6$_{3}$/mmc}), as previously reported. The $rho(T)$, $chi(T)$ and C($T$) data confirm the bulk ferromagnetic ordering of itinerant Cr moments in LaCrGe$_{3}$ and CeCrGe$_{3}$ with $T_{C}$ = 90 K and 70 K respectively. In addition a weak anomaly is also observed near 3 K in the C($T$) data of CeCrGe$_{3}$. The T dependences of $rho$ and finite values of Sommerfeld coefficient $gamma$ obtained from the specific heat measurements confirm that both the compounds are of metallic character. Further, the $T$ dependence of $rho$ of CeCrGe$_{3}$ reflects a Kondo lattice behavior. An enhanced $gamma$ of 130 mJ/mol,K$^{2}$ together with the Kondo lattice behavior inferred from the $rho(T)$ establish CeCrGe$_{3}$ as a moderate heavy fermion compound with a quasi-particle mass renormalization factor of $sim$ 45.
The ground state properties of CeFePO, a homologue of the new high temperature superconductors RFePnO(1-x)Fx, were studied by means of susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity, and NMR measurements on polycrystals. All the results demonstrate that this compound is a magnetically non-ordered heavy Fermion metal with a Kondo temperature TK~10K, a Sommerfeld coefficient gamma=700mJ/molK2 and a mass enhancement factor of the order of 200. The absence of a Fe-contribution to the effective moment at high temperatures indicates that the magnetism in CeFePO is completely dominated by the effect of Ce. Thus the strong electronic correlation effects originate from the Ce-4f electrons rather than from the Fe-3d electrons. An enhanced Sommerfeld-Wilson ratio R=5.5 as well as a Korringa product S0/T1TK2~0.065 well below 1 indicate the presence of ferromagnetic correlations. Therefore, CeFePO appears to be on the non-magnetic side of a ferromagnetic instability.
We have studied the magnetization of the recently discovered heavy fermion superconductor UTe$_2$ up to 56 T in pulsed-magnetic fields. A first-order metamagnetic transition has been clearly observed at $H_{rm m}$ =34.9 T when the magnetic field $H$ is applied along the orthorhombic hard-magnetization $b$-axis. The transition has a critical end point at $sim$11 K and 34.8 T, where the first order transition terminates and changes into a crossover regime. Using the thermodynamic Maxwell relation, we have evaluated the field dependence of the Sommerfeld coefficient of the specific heat directly related to the superconducting pairing. From the analysis, we found a significant enhancement of the effective mass centered at $H_{rm m}$, which is reminiscent of the field-reentrant superconductivity of the ferromagnet URhGe in transverse fields. We discuss the origin of their field-robust superconductivity.
Dimensionality plays an essential role in determining the anomalous non-Fermi liquid properties in heavy fermion systems. So far most heavy fermion compounds are quasi-two-dimensional or three-dimensional. Here we report the synthesis and systematic investigations of the single crystals of the quasi-one-dimensional Kondo lattice CeCo$_2$Ga$_8$. Resistivity measurements at ambient pressure reveal the onset of coherence at $T^*approx 20,$K and non-Fermi liquid behavior with linear temperature dependence over a decade in temperature from 2 K to 0.1 K. The specific heat increases logarithmically with lowering temperature between 10 K and 2 K and reaches 800 mJ/mol K$^2$ at 1 K, suggesting that CeCo$_2$Ga$_8$ is a heavy fermion compound in the close vicinity of a quantum critical point. Resistivity measurements under pressure further confirm the non-Fermi liquid behavior in a large temperature-pressure range. The magnetic susceptibility is found to follow the typical behavior for a one-dimensional (1D) spin chain from 300 K down to $T^*$, and first-principles calculations predict flat Fermi surfaces for the itinerant $f$-electron bands. These suggest that CeCo$_2$Ga$_8$ is a rare example of the quasi-1D Kondo lattice, but its non-Fermi liquid behaviors resemble those of the quasi-two-dimensional YbRh$_2$Si$_2$ family. The study of the quasi-one-dimensional CeCo$_2$Ga$_8$ family may therefore help us to understand the role of dimensionality on heavy fermion physics and quantum criticality.
We report the thermodynamic, magnetic, and electronic transport properties of the new ternary intermetallic system (Ce,La)3Pt4In13. Ce3Pt4In13 orders antiferromagnetically at 0.95 K while the non-magnetic compound La3Pt4In13 is a conventional 3.3 K superconductor. Kondo lattice effects appear to limit the entropy associated with the Neel transition to (1/4)Rln2 as an electronic contribution to the specific heat of gamma = 1 J/mole-Ce K2 is observed at TN; roughly 35% of this gamma survives the ordering transition. Hall effect, thermoelectric power, and ambient-pressure resistivity measurements confirm this interpretation. These results suggest that RKKY and Kondo interactions are closely balanced in this compound (TN = TK). Contrary to expectations based on the Doniach Kondo necklace model, applied hydrostatic pressure modestly enhances the magnetic ordering temperature with dTN/dP = +23 mK/kbar. As such Ce3Pt4In13 provides a counterexample to Kondo systems with similar Kondo and RKKY energy scales wherein applied pressure enhances TK at the expense of the ordered magnetic state.