No Arabic abstract
We report the synthesis, crystal structure and characterization by means of single crystal x-ray diffraction, neutron powder diffraction, magnetic, thermal and transport measurements of the new heavy fermion compounds Ce$_{2}$MAl$_{7}$Ge$_{4}$ (M = Co, Ir, Ni, Pd). These compounds crystallize in a noncentrosymmetic tetragonal space group P={4}2$_{1}$m, consisting of layers of square nets of Ce atoms separated by Ge-Al and M-Al-Ge blocks. Ce$_{2}$CoAl$_{7}$Ge$_{4}$, Ce$_{2}$IrAl$_{7}$Ge$_{4}$ and Ce$_{2}$NiAl$_{7}$Ge$_{4}$ order magnetically behavior below $T_{M}=$ 1.8, 1.6, and 0.8 K, respectively. There is no evidence of magnetic ordering in Ce$_{2}$PdAl$_{7}$Ge$_{4}$ down to 0.4 K. The small amount of entropy released in the magnetic state of Ce$_{2}$MAl$_{7}$Ge$_{4}$ (M = Co, Ir, Ni) and the reduced specific heat jump at $T_M$ suggest a strong Kondo interaction in these materials. Ce$_{2}$PdAl$_{7}$Ge$_{4}$ shows non-Fermi liquid behavior, possibly due to the presence of a nearby quantum critical point.
The synthesis, crystal structure, and physical properties studied by means of x-ray diffraction, magnetic, thermal and transport measurements of CeMAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ (M = Rh, Ir, Pt) are reported, along with the electronic structure calculations for LaMAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ (M = Rh, Ir, Pt). These materials adopt a tetragonal crystal structure (space group P4/mmm) comprised of BaAl$_4$ blocks, separated by MAl$_2$ units, stacked along the $c$-axis. Both CeRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ and CeIrAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ order antiferromagnetically below $T_{N1}$=14 and 16 K, respectively, and undergo a second antiferromagnetic transitition at lower temperature ($T_{N2}$=9 and 14 K, respectively). CePtAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ orders ferromagnetically below $T_C$ =3 K with an ordered moment of $mu_{sat}$=0.8 $mu_{B}$ for a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the $c$-axis. Electronic structure calculations reveal quasi-2D character of the Fermi surface.
A technique for measuring the electrical resistivity and absolute thermopower is presented for pressures up to 30 GPa, temperatures down to 25 mK and magnetic fields up to 10 T. With the examples of CeCu2Ge2 and CeCu2Si2 we focus on the interplay of normal phase and superconducting properties. With increasing pres- sure, the behaviour of CeCu2Ge2 evolves from that of an antiferromagnetically ordered Kondo system to that characteristic of an intermediate valence compound as the Kondo temperature increases by about two orders of magnitude. In the pressure window 8-10 < P < 20 GPa, a superconducting phase occurs which com- petes at low pressure with magnetic ordering. For CeCu2Si2 the effective mass of carriers is probed by both the coefficient of the Fermi liquid law and the ini- tial slope of the upper critical field. The magnetic instability is studied no- tably for CeRu2Ge2 and Yb-based compounds for which pressure-induced magnetic ordering tends to develop. Finally, contrary to conventional wisdom, we argue that in heavy fermions a large part of the residual resistivity is most likely not independent of temperature; tentatively ascribed to Kondo hole, it can be very pressure as well as sample dependent. [electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power, heavy fermion, magnetic order, superconductivity]
Low temperature magnetic properties of Cd-doped Ce2MIn8 (M = Rh and Ir) single crystals are investigated. Experiments of temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity and electrical resistivity measurements revealed that Cd-doping enhances the antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering temperature from TN = 2.8 K (x = 0) to TN = 4.8 K (x = 0.21) for Ce2RhIn8-xCdx and induces long range AFM ordering with TN = 3.8 K (x = 0.21) for Ce2IrIn8-xCdx. Additionally, X-ray and neutron magnetic scattering studies showed that Cd-doped samples present below TN a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with a propagation vector (1/2,1/2,0). The resolved magnetic structures for both compounds indicate that the Cd-doping tends to rotate the direction of the ordered magnetic moments toward the ab-plane. This result suggests that the Cd-doping affects the Ce3+ ground state single ion anisotropy modifying the crystalline electrical field (CEF) parameters at the Ce3+ site. Indications of CEF evolution induced by Cd-doping were also found in the electrical resistivity measurements. Comparisons between our results and the general effects of Cd-doping on the related compounds CeMIn5 (M = Co, Rh and Ir) confirms the claims that the Cd-doping induced electronic tuning is the main effect favoring AFM ordering in these compounds.
The physical properties of the very heavy fermion YbCu$_4$Ni were characterized through structural, magnetic, thermal and transport studies along nearly four decades of temperature ranging between 50 milikelvin and 300 K. At high temperature, the crystal electric field levels splitting was determined with $Delta_1 (Gamma_6)= 85$ K and $Delta_2 (Gamma_8) approx 200$ K, the latter being a quartet in this cubic symmetry. An effective magnetic moment $mu_{eff} approx 3mu_B$ is evaluated for the $Gamma_7$ ground state, while at high temperature the value for a Yb$^{3+}$ ion is observed. At low temperature this compounds shows the typical behavior of a magnetically frustrated system undergoing a change of regime at a characteristic temperature $T^*approx 200$ mK into a sort of Fermi-liquid type plateauof the specific heat: $C_m/T|_{Tto 0}$ = const. The change in the temperature dependence of the specific heat coincides with a maximum and a discontinuity in respective inductive and dissipative components of the ac-susceptibility. More details from the nature of this ground state are revealed by the specific heat behavior under applied magnetic field.
We report the properties of two new isostructural compounds, U3Bi4Ni3 and U3Bi4Rh3. The first of these compounds is non-metallic, and the second is a nearly ferromagnetic metal, both as anticipated from their electron count relative to other U-based members of the larger 3-4-3 family. For U3Bi4Rh3, a logarithmic increase of C/T below 3 K, a resistivity proportional to T^4/3, and the recovery of Fermi-liquid behavior in both properties with applied fields greater than 3T, suggest that U3Bi4Rh3 may be a new example of a material displaying ferromagnetic quantum criticality.