Microscopic nature of the extremely high specific heat of rare earth intermetallic compounds at low temperatures and the possibility of its application in technical superconductivity
- Russian Research Centre Kurchatov Institute (Russian Federation)
The presence of an unfilled f-electron shell in rare earth intermetallic compounds under conditions of strong electron correlation between localized and delocalized electrons is responsible for the formation of local magnetic moments. According to the data of neutron, synchrotron, and other investigations of a number of such systems, the interaction of these moments with the local crystalline environment, hybridization with conduction electrons, f-f correlations (i.e., both one-site and cooperative phenomena), and combinations of these main effects form the physical base for the reconstruction of the excitation spectrum of an f-electron system and appearance of pronounced specific features of thermodynamic characteristics. The range of characteristic temperatures of these anomalies is determined by the interaction energy, which generally corresponds to the range 1-100 K. For some intermetallic compounds, the additional component of the specific heat (of electron origin) may greatly (by two to three orders of magnitude) exceed the specific heat of conventional structural materials. This feature makes it possible to consider such systems as promising functional materials (a kind of thermodynamic dampers) capable of compensating for various thermal perturbations in low-temperature super-conducting magnetic systems.
- OSTI ID:
- 21091411
- Journal Information:
- Crystallography Reports, Vol. 51, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1134/S1063774506070133; Copyright (c) 2006 Nauka/Interperiodica; Article Copyright (c) 2006 Pleiades Publishing, Inc; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-7745
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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