Field-tuned Fermi Liquid in Quantum Critical YFe2Al10

Journal Article · Tue Sep 20 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

OSTI ID:1045889

C, Aronson M; Park, K; Wu, L S; Janssen, Y; Kim, M S; Marques, C

We present measurements of the magnetization M, ac susceptibility {chi}{prime}, electrical resistivity {rho}, and specific heat C in single crystals of metallic YFe{sub 2}Al{sub 10}. The magnetic susceptibility follows a Curie-Weiss temperature dependence for 75 K {le} T {le} 750 K, with a fluctuating Fe moment of 0.45 {mu}{sub B}/Fe, and the ac susceptibility {chi}{prime} diverges at lower temperatures {chi}{prime} {approx} T{sup -1.28} {+-} 0.04 when the ac field is in the basal plane. The field B and temperature T dependencies of the magnetization M are well described by the scaling expression MT{sup -{beta}} = F(B/T{sup {beta}+{gamma}}) for 1.8 K {le} T {le} 30 K and for fields larger than 0.1T. These results indicate that strong quasi-two-dimensional critical fluctuations are present that can be suppressed by magnetic fields. The magnetic and electronic parts of the specific heat C{sub M} show a similar divergence for 0.4 K {le} T {le} 12 K, where C{sub M}/T {approx}T{sup -0.47 {+-} 0.03}. The divergences in {chi}{prime} and C{sub M}/T indicate that YFe{sub 2}Al{sub 10} is located near a quantum critical point, and no magnetic order is observed above 0.09 K. We argue that our results are inconsistent with quantum impurity or disorder models, suggesting instead that YFe{sub 2}Al{sub 10} is on the verge of bulk magnetic ordering, and that the critical fluctuations that are associated with this quantum critical point lead to the divergencies in CM/T and {chi}{prime}.

• Research Organization: BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY (BNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE SC OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 1045889
• Report Number(s): BNL--96623-2011-JA; KC0202020
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 84; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
FERMI GAS
FLUCTUATIONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY
MAGNETIZATION
MONOCRYSTALS
SPECIFIC HEAT
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE