skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Non-Fermi-liquid scaling in heavy-fermion UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} and UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2}

Abstract

We report on specific-heat, magnetic-susceptibility, high-field-magnetization, electrical-resistivity, and neutron-diffraction results on UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} (polycrystal) and UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2} (polycrystal and single crystal). Our results indicate that both compounds crystallize in the hexagonal CaCu{sub 5} structure with ordered UCu{sub 2} planes separated by planes containing a statistical distribution of Al along with the remaining Cu atoms. At low temperatures, the specific heat and the magnetic susceptibility of both compounds are enhanced, but their temperature dependences are found to be distinct from expectations of Fermi-liquid theory. UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} does not order magnetically, and the low-temperature specific heat and magnetic susceptibility show scaling behavior ({ital C}/{ital T}{proportional_to}ln{ital T} and {chi}{proportional_to}{ital T}{sup {minus}1/3}) reminiscent of non-Fermi-liquid materials. For UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2}, on the other hand, the low-temperature scaling of bulk properties is masked by an anomaly around 8{endash}10 K, which is presumably of magnetic origin. Single-crystal studies of UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2} reveal a huge magnetic anisotropy with very different in-plane response compared to the {ital c}-axis response. Our data provide evidence that any temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility (and electrical resistivity) of polycrystalline material may be due to averaging anisotropic response over all crystallographic directions. The results are discussed in themore » context of findings from other non-Fermi-liquid materials. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}« less

Authors:
 [1]; ; ; ;  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]; ;  [1];  [7]
  1. Manuel Lujan Jr. Neutron Scattering Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
  2. Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, University of Amsterdam, Valckenierstraat 65, 1018 XE Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
  3. Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 2, 18 040 Prague 8, (The Czech Republic)
  4. The Harrison M. Randall Laboratory of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1120 (United States)
  5. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Pulsed Field Facility, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
  6. Department of Physics, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182 (United States)
  7. Intense Pulsed Neutron Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439-4814 (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
392018
DOE Contract Number:  
W-31109-ENG-38
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 54; Journal Issue: 17; Other Information: PBD: Nov 1996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; URANIUM COMPOUNDS; ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE; COPPER COMPOUNDS; ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS; TERNARY ALLOY SYSTEMS; MONOCRYSTALS; CRYSTAL STRUCTURE; SPECIFIC HEAT; MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY; ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY; NEUTRON DIFFRACTION

Citation Formats

Nakotte, H, Prokes, K, Brueck, E, Buschow, K H, de Boer, F R, Andreev, A V, Aronson, M C, Lacerda, A, Torikachvili, M S, Robinson, R A, Bourke, M A, and Schultz, A J. Non-Fermi-liquid scaling in heavy-fermion UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} and UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2}. United States: N. p., 1996. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.54.12176.
Nakotte, H, Prokes, K, Brueck, E, Buschow, K H, de Boer, F R, Andreev, A V, Aronson, M C, Lacerda, A, Torikachvili, M S, Robinson, R A, Bourke, M A, & Schultz, A J. Non-Fermi-liquid scaling in heavy-fermion UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} and UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2}. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.54.12176
Nakotte, H, Prokes, K, Brueck, E, Buschow, K H, de Boer, F R, Andreev, A V, Aronson, M C, Lacerda, A, Torikachvili, M S, Robinson, R A, Bourke, M A, and Schultz, A J. 1996. "Non-Fermi-liquid scaling in heavy-fermion UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} and UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2}". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.54.12176.
@article{osti_392018,
title = {Non-Fermi-liquid scaling in heavy-fermion UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} and UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2}},
author = {Nakotte, H and Prokes, K and Brueck, E and Buschow, K H and de Boer, F R and Andreev, A V and Aronson, M C and Lacerda, A and Torikachvili, M S and Robinson, R A and Bourke, M A and Schultz, A J},
abstractNote = {We report on specific-heat, magnetic-susceptibility, high-field-magnetization, electrical-resistivity, and neutron-diffraction results on UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} (polycrystal) and UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2} (polycrystal and single crystal). Our results indicate that both compounds crystallize in the hexagonal CaCu{sub 5} structure with ordered UCu{sub 2} planes separated by planes containing a statistical distribution of Al along with the remaining Cu atoms. At low temperatures, the specific heat and the magnetic susceptibility of both compounds are enhanced, but their temperature dependences are found to be distinct from expectations of Fermi-liquid theory. UCu{sub 3.5}Al{sub 1.5} does not order magnetically, and the low-temperature specific heat and magnetic susceptibility show scaling behavior ({ital C}/{ital T}{proportional_to}ln{ital T} and {chi}{proportional_to}{ital T}{sup {minus}1/3}) reminiscent of non-Fermi-liquid materials. For UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2}, on the other hand, the low-temperature scaling of bulk properties is masked by an anomaly around 8{endash}10 K, which is presumably of magnetic origin. Single-crystal studies of UCu{sub 3}Al{sub 2} reveal a huge magnetic anisotropy with very different in-plane response compared to the {ital c}-axis response. Our data provide evidence that any temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility (and electrical resistivity) of polycrystalline material may be due to averaging anisotropic response over all crystallographic directions. The results are discussed in the context of findings from other non-Fermi-liquid materials. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.54.12176},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/392018}, journal = {Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter},
number = 17,
volume = 54,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1996},
month = {Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1996}
}