No Arabic abstract
Acoustic signatures of the single-site quadrupolar Kondo effect in Y$_{0.966}$Pr$_{0.034}$Ir$_2$Zn$_{20}$ are presented. The elastic constant ($C_{11}-C_{12}$)/2, corresponding to the $Gamma_3$(E)-symmetry electric-quadrupolar response, reveals a logarithmic temperature dependence of the quadrupolar susceptibility in the low-magnetic-field region below $sim$0.3 K. Furthermore, the Curie-type divergence of the elastic constant down to $sim$1 K indicates that the Pr ions in this diluted system have a non-Kramers ground-state doublet. These observations evidence the single-site quadrupolar Kondo effect, as previously suggested based on specific-heat and electrical resistivity data.
Ultrasonic investigations of the single-site quadrupolar Kondo effect in diluted Pr system Y$_{0.966}$Pr$_{0.034}$Ir$_2$Zn$_{20}$ are reported. The elastic constant $(C_{11}-C_{12})/2$ is measured down to ~40 mK using ultrasound for the dilute system Y$_{0.966}$Pr$_{0.034}$Ir$_2$Zn$_{20}$ and the pure compound YIr$_2$Zn$_{20}$. We found that the elastic constant $(C_{11}-C_{12})/2$ of the Pr-dilute system exhibits a logarithmic temperature dependence below $T_0$ ~0.3 K, where non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior in the specific heat and electrical resistivity is observed. This logarithmic temperature variation manifested in the $Gamma_3$-symmetry quadrupolar susceptibility is consistent with the theoretical prediction of the quadrupolar Kondo effect by D. L. Cox. On the other hand, the pure compound YIr$_2$Zn$_{20}$ without $4f$-electron contributions shows nearly no change in its elastic constants evidencing negligible phonon contributions. In addition, clear acoustic de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillations in the elastic constant were detected for both compounds on applying magnetic field. This is mainly interpreted as contribution from the Fermi surface of YIr$_2$Zn$_{20}$.
Electrical resistivity $rho(T)$ and specific heat $C(T)$ measurements have been made on the diluted 4$f^2$ system Y(Pr)Ir$_2$Zn$_{20}$. Both data of $rho$ and magnetic specific heat $C_{rm m}$ per Pr ion are well scaled as a function of $T/T_{rm 0}$, where $T_{rm 0}$ is a characteristic temperature of non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behaviors. Furthermore, the temperature dependences of $rho$ and $C_{mathrm{m}}/T$ agree with the NFL behaviors predicted by the two-channel Kondo model for the strong coupling limit. Therefore, we infer that the observed NFL behaviors result from the single-site quadrupole Kondo effect due to the hybridization of the 4$f^2$ states with multi-channel conduction electrons.
We study the evolution of the Kondo effect in heavy fermion compounds, Yb(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$Zn$_{20}$ (0$leqslant$ x $leqslant$ 1), by means of temperature-dependent electric resistivity and specific heat. The ground state of YbFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$ can be well described by a Kondo model with degeneracy $N$ = 8 and a $T_Ksim$30 K. In the presence of a very similar total CEF splitting with YbFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$, the ground state of YbCo$_2$Zn$_{20}$ is close to a Kondo state with degeneracy $N$ = 2 and a much lower $T_Ksim$ 2 K. Upon Co substitution, the coherence temperature of YbFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$ is suppressed, accompanied by an emerging Schottky-like feature in specific heat associated with the thermal depopulation of CEF levels upon cooling. For 0.4$lesssim$ x $lesssim$ 0.9, the ground state remains roughly the same which can be qualitatively understood by Kondo effect in the presence of CEF splitting. There is no clear indication of Kondo coherence observable in resistivity within this substitution range down to 500 mK. The coherence re-appears at around x$gtrsim$ 0.9 and the coherence temperature increases with higher Co concentration levels.
A detailed microscopic and quantitative description of the electronic and magnetic properties of Gd$^{3+}$-doped YCo$_{2}$Zn$_{20}$ single crystals (Y$_{1-x}$Gd$_{x}$Co$_{2}$Zn$_{20}$: (0.002 $lesssim x leq $ 1.00) is reported through a combination of temperature-dependent electron spin resonance (ESR), heat capacity and $dc$ magnetic susceptibility experiments, plus first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The ESR results indicate that this system features an emph{exchange bottleneck} scenario wherein various channels for the spin-lattice relaxation mechanism of the Gd$^{3+}$ ions can be identified via exchange interactions with different types of conduction electrons at the Fermi level. Quantitative support from the other techniques allow to extract the exchange interaction parameters between the localized magnetic moments of the Gd$^{3+}$ ions and the different types of conduction electrons present at the Fermi level ($J_{fs}$, $J_{fp}$ and $J_{fd}$). Despite the complexity of the crystal structure, our combination of experimental and electronic structure data establish GdCo$_{2}$Zn$_{20}$ as a model RKKY system by predicting a Curie-Weiss temperature $theta_{C} = -1.2(2)$~K directly from microscopic parameters, in very good agreement with the bulk value from magnetization data. The successful microscopic understanding of the electronic structure and behavior for the two end compounds YCo$_{2}$Zn$_{20}$ and GdCo$_{2}$Zn$_{20}$ means they can be used as references to help describe the more complex electronic properties of related materials.
$^{115}$In Nuclear magnetic resonance data are presented for a series of Ce$_{1-x}$La$_x$CoIn$_5$ crystals with different La dilutions, $x$. Multiple In(1) sites associated with different numbers of nearest-neighbor cerium atoms exhibit different Knight shifts and spin lattice relaxation rates. Analysis of the temperature dependence of these sites reveals both an evolution of the heavy electron coherence as a function of dilution, as well as spatial inhomogeneity associated with a complete suppression of antiferromagnetic fluctuations in the vicinity of the La sites. Quantum critical fluctuations persist within disconnected Ce clusters with dilution levels up to 75%, despite the fact that specific heat shows Fermi liquid behavior in dilute samples.