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Specific heat and electrical properties of the spin fluctuation system U/sub 1-x/Th/sub x/Al/sub 2/

Conference · · AIP (Am. Inst. Phys.) Conf. Proc.; (United States)
OSTI ID:7317836

The pseudobinary intermetallic compounds U/sub 1-x/Th/sub x/Al/sub 2/ have been studied by specific heat (2 to 30/sup 0/K) and electrical resistivity (1.5 to 300/sup 0/K) measurements for x = 0.0, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.95. The specific heat of UAl/sub 2/ contains a large linear term indicative of a very high density of states at the Fermi level and a pronounced T/sup 3/ log T contribution due to ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. With increasing x, the specific heats show both an increase in the magnitude of the linear term and a strong modification of the T/sup 3/ log T term. The T/sup 2/ resistivity in UAl/sub 2/ changes to a T/sup /sup 3///sub 2// dependence by x = 0.10. These effects are discussed in terms of reduced overlap of 5f wave-functions and increased impurity scattering with increasing x. The specific heat of the x = 0.95 sample exhibits a strongly field-dependent maximum near 2/sup 0/K associated with interactions between local moments formed on the U sites.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab., IL
OSTI ID:
7317836
Journal Information:
AIP (Am. Inst. Phys.) Conf. Proc.; (United States), Journal Name: AIP (Am. Inst. Phys.) Conf. Proc.; (United States) Vol. 34; ISSN APCPC
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English