Understanding the heavy fermion behavior in CeInPt4

A. D. Hillier, D. T. Adroja, S. R. Giblin, W. Kockelmann, B. D. Rainford, and S. K. Malik
Phys. Rev. B 76, 174439 – Published 30 November 2007

Abstract

The cubic compound CeInPt4 exhibits heavy fermion behavior with a high extrapolated value of the electronic specific heat, γ=2.5JmoleK2 as T0K. The specific heat does not exhibit any sign of long range magnetic ordering down to 100mK. In order to understand the origin of the high value of γ and the nature of the 4f electrons of this compound, we have carried out neutron diffraction, low-field magnetic susceptibility, muon spin relaxation, and inelastic neutron scattering measurements on CeInPt4. Our susceptibility results show that for temperatures between 20 and 1.5K, a power law behavior is exhibited, χ(T)Tβ with β=0.5. Below 1.5K, the susceptibility is almost temperature independent, again without any sign of magnetic ordering down to the lowest available temperature (300mK). The muon spin relaxation measurements reveal that below 1K, the electronic relaxation rate strongly increases without any loss of muon initial asymmetry, indicating the presence of low energy spin fluctuations as an explanation for the high value of γ in CeInPt4. Heat capacity data reveal a log(CT)log(T) behavior, indicating that CeInPt4 may exhibit non-Fermi-liquid behavior close to a T0K quantum critical point. Our inelastic neutron scattering results reveal a broad crystal field excitation centered at 25meV, indicating the presence of strong hybridization between the 4f and the conduction electrons, which is consistent with the observed high value of the paramagnetic Curie temperature (θp=255K).

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  • Received 16 May 2007
  • Accepted 6 September 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.76.174439

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. D. Hillier, D. T. Adroja, S. R. Giblin, and W. Kockelmann

  • ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, United Kingdom

B. D. Rainford

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom

S. K. Malik

  • International Center for Condensed Matter Physics (ICCMP), University of Brasilia, 70904-970 Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil

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Issue

Vol. 76, Iss. 17 — 1 November 2007

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