Crystalline Electric Field as a Probe for Long-Range Antiferromagnetic Order and Superconducting State of CeFeAsO1-xFx
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)
- ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
- ORNL
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
We use inelastic neutron scattering to study the crystalline electric field (CEF) excitations of Ce{sup 3+} in CeFeAsO{sub 1-x}F{sub x} (x=0, 0.16). For nonsuperconducting CeFeAsO, the Ce CEF levels have three magnetic doublets in the paramagnetic state, but these doublets split into six singlets when the Fe ions order antiferromagnetically. For superconducting CeFeAsO{sub 0.84}F{sub 0.16} (T{sub c} = 41 K), where the static antiferromagnetic order is suppressed, the Ce CEF levels have three magnetic doublets at {h_bar}{sub {omega}} = 0, 18.7, 58.4 meV at all temperatures. Careful measurements of the intrinsic linewidth {Lambda} and the peak position of the 18.7 meV mode reveal a clear anomaly at T{sub c}, consistent with a strong enhancement of local magnetic susceptibility {chi}{double_prime}({h_bar}{sub {omega}}) below T{sub c}. These results suggest that CEF excitations in the rare-earth oxypnictides can be used as a probe of spin dynamics in the nearby FeAs planes.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 944112
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 0031-900; ISSN 0031-9007
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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