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In the heavy-fermion system $Yb_2Pd_2In_{1-x}Sn_x$, the interplay of crystal-field splitting, Kondo effect, and Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interactions leads to complex chemical-, pressure-, and magnetic-field phase diagrams, still to be explored in full detail. By using a series of techniques, we show that even modest changes of parameters other than temperature are sufficient to induce multiple quantum-critical transitions in this highly susceptible heavy-fermion family. In particular, we show that, above $sim 10$ kbar, hydrostatic pressure not only induces an antiferromagnetic phase at low temperature, but it likely leads to a reorientation of the Yb magnetic moments and/or the competition among different antiferromagnetic configurations.
Orbital degrees of freedom in condensed matters could play important roles in forming a variety of exotic electronic states by interacting with conduction electrons. In 4f electron systems, because of strong intra-atomic spin-orbit coupling, an orbitally degenerate state inherently carries quadrupolar degrees of freedom. The present work has focussed on a purely quadrupole-active system PrIr2Zn20 showing superconductivity in the presence of an antiferroquadrupole order at TQ = 0.11 K. We observed non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behaviors emerging in the electrical resistivity and the 4f contribution to the specific heat, C_4f, in the paramagnetic state at T > TQ. Moreover, in magnetic fields below 6 T, all data set of the electrical resistivity and C_4f(T) are well scaled with characteristic temperatures T0s. This is the first observation of the NFL state in the nonmagnetic quadrupole-active system, whose origin is intrinsically different from that observed in the vicinity of the conventional quantum critical point. It implies possible formation of a quadrupole Kondo lattice resulting from hybridization between the quadrupoles and the conduction electrons. Below 0.13 K, the electrical resistivity and C_4f(T) exhibit anomalies as B approaches 5 T. This is the manifestation of a field-induced crossover toward a Fermi-liquid ground state in the quadrupole Kondo lattice.
We report on the pressure-induced unconventional superconductivity in the heavy-fermion antiferromagnet CeIn3 by means of nuclear-quadrupole-resonance (NQR) studies conducted under a high pressure. The temperature and pressure dependences of the NQR spectra have revealed a first-order quantum-phase transition (QPT) from an AFM to PM at a critical pressure Pc=2.46 GPa. Despite the lack of an AFM quantum critical point in the P-T phase diagram, we highlight the fact that the unconventional SC occurs in both phases of the AFM and PM. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 in the AFM phase have provided evidence for the uniformly coexisting AFM+SC phase. In the HF-PM phase where AFM fluctuations are not developed, 1/T1 decreases without the coherence peak just below Tc, followed by a power-law like T dependence that indicates an unconventional SC with a line-node gap. Remarkably, Tc has a peak around Pc in the HF-PM phase as well as in the AFM phase. In other words, an SC dome exists with a maximum value of Tc = 230 mK around Pc, indicating that the origin of the pressure-induced HF SC in CeIn3 is not relevant to AFM spin fluctuations but to the emergence of the first-order QPT in CeIn3. When the AFM critical temperature is suppressed at the termination point of the first-order QPT, Pc = 2.46 GPa, the diverging AFM spin-density fluctuations emerge at the critical point from the AFM to PM. The results with CeIn3 leading to a new type of quantum criticality deserve further theoretical investigations.
We report a systematic study of temperature- and field-dependent charge ($boldsymbol{rho}$) and entropy ($mathbf{S}$) transport in the heavy-fermion superconductor CeIrIn$_5$. Its large positive thermopower $S_{xx}$ is typical of Ce-based Kondo lattice systems, and strong electronic correlations play an important role in enhancing the Nernst signal $S_{xy}$. By separating the off-diagonal Peltier coefficient $alpha_{xy}$ from $S_{xy}$, we find that $alpha_{xy}$ becomes positive and greatly enhanced at temperatures well above the bulk $T_c$. Compared with the non-magnetic analog LaIrIn$_5$, these results suggest vortexlike excitations in a precursor state to unconventional superconductivity in CeIrIn$_5$. This study sheds new light on the similarity of heavy-fermion and cuprate superconductors and on the possibility of states not characterized by the amplitude of an order parameter.
The effect of uniaxial pressure (P_u) on the magnetic susceptibility (X), magnetization (M), and magnetoresistance (MR) of the heavy-fermion metamagnet CeRu2Si2 has been investigated. For the magnetic field along the tetragonal c axis, it is found that characteristic physical quantities, i.e., the temperature of the susceptibility maximum (T_max), the pagamagnetic Weiss temperature (Q_p), 1/X at 2 K, and the magnetic field of the metamagnetic anomaly (H_M), scale approximately linearly with P_u, indicating that all the quantities are related to the same energy scale, probably of the Kondo temperature. The increase (decrease) of the quantities for P_u || c axis (P_u || a axis) can be attributed to a decrease (increase) in the nearest Ce-Ru distance. Consistently in MR and X, we observed a sign that the anisotropic nature of the hybridization, which is believed to play an important role in the metamagnetic anomaly, can be controlled by applying the uniaxial pressure. PACS numbers: 75.20.Hr, 71.27.+a, 74.62.Fj
High-pressure electrical resistance measurements have been performed on single crystal Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe2As2 platelets to pressures of 16 GPa and temperatures down to 10 K using designer diamond anvils under quasi-hydrostatic conditions with an insulating steatite pressure medium. The resistance measurements show evidence of pressure-induced superconductivity with an onset transition temperature at ~31 K and zero resistance at ~22 K for a pressure of 3.3 GPa. The transition temperature decreases gradually with increasing in pressure before completely disappearing for pressures above 12 GPa. The present results provide experimental evidence that a solid solution of two 122-type materials, e.g., Ba1-x.SrxFe2As2 (0 < x <1), can also exhibit superconductivity under high pressure