The CeIn3-xSnx cubic heavy fermion system presents an antiferromagnetic transition at T_N = 10 K, for x = 0, that decreases continuously down to 0 K upon Sn substitution at a critical concentration of x_c ~ 0.65. In the vicinity of T_N -> 0 the syste
m shows non-Fermi liquid behavior due to antiferromagnetic critical fluctuations. For a high Sn content, x > 2.2, intermediate valence effects are present. In this work we show that Gd3+-doped electron spin resonance (ESR) probes a change in the character of the Ce 4f electron, as a function of Sn substitution. The Gd3+ ESR results indicate a transition of the Ce 4f spin behavior from localized to itinerant. Near the quantum critical point, on the antiferromagnetic side of the magnetic phase diagram, both localized and itinerant behaviors coexist.
The LaIn3-xSnx alloy system is composed of superconducting Pauli paramagnets. For LaIn3 the superconducting critical temperature T_c is approximately 0.7 K and it shows an oscillatory dependence as a function of Sn substitution, presenting its highes
t value T_c ~ 6.4 K for the LaSn3 end member. The superconducting state of these materials was characterized as being of the conventional type. We report our results for Gd3+ electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements in the LaIn3-xSnx compounds as a function of x. We show that the effective exchange interaction parameter J_fs between the Gd3+ 4f local moment and the s-like conduction electrons is almost unchanged by Sn substitution and observe microscopically that LaSn3 is a conventional superconductor.
The Fe K X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) of BaFe2-xCoxAs2 superconductors was investigated. No appreciable alteration in shape or energy position of this edge was observed with Co substitution. This result provides experimental support t
o previous ab initio calculations in which the extra Co electron is concentrated at the substitute site and do not change the electronic occupation of the Fe ions. Superconductivity may emerge due to bonding modifications induced by the substitute atom that weakens the spin-density-wave ground state by reducing the Fe local moments and/or increasing the elastic energy penalty of the accompanying orthorhombic distortion.
