Hybridization-driven gap in U3Bi4Ni3: a 209Bi NMR/NQR study

We report 209Bi NMR and NQR measurements on a single crystal of the Kondo insulator U3Bi4Ni3. The 209Bi nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate ($T_1^{-1}$) shows activated behavior and is well-fit by a spin gap of 220 K. The 209Bi Knight shift (K) exhibits a strong temperature dependence arising from 5f electrons, in which K is negative at high temperatures and increases as the temperature is lowered. Below 50 K, K shows a broad maximum and decreases slightly upon further cooling. Our data provide insight into the evolution of the hyperfine fields in a fully gapped Kondo insulator based on 5f electron hybridization.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Interacting Antiferromagnetic Droplets in Quantum Critical CeCoIn_5

The heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn_5 can be tuned between superconducting and antiferromagnetic ground states by hole doping with Cd. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data indicate that these two orders coexist microscopically with an ordered moment ~0.7 \mu_B. As the ground state evolves, there is no change in the low frequency spin dynamics in the disordered state. These results suggest that the magnetism emerges locally in the vicinity of the Cd dopants.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

A predictive standard model for heavy electron systems

We propose a predictive standard model for heavy electron systems based on a detailed phenomenological two-fluid description of existing experimental data. It leads to a new phase diagram that replaces the Doniach picture, describes the emergent anomalous scaling behavior of the heavy electron (Kondo) liquid measured below the lattice coherence temperature, T*, seen by many different experimental probes, that marks the onset of collective hybridization, and enables one to obtain important information on quantum criticality and the superconducting/antiferromagnetic states at low temperatures. Because T* is ~J^2\rho/2, the nearest neighbor RKKY interaction, a knowledge of the single-ion Kondo coupling, J, to the background conduction electron density of states, \rho, makes it possible to predict Kondo liquid behavior, and to estimate its maximum superconducting transition temperature in both existing and newly discovered heavy electron families.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. for SCES 201

First-Order Reversal Curves of the Magnetostructural Phase Transition in FeTe

We apply the first-order reversal curve (FORC) method, borrowed from studies of ferromagnetic materials, to the magneto-structural phase transition of FeTe. FORC measurements reveal two features in the hysteretic phase transition, even in samples where traditional temperature measurements display only a single transition. For Fe1.13Te, the influence of magnetic field suggests that the main feature is primarily structural while a smaller, slightly higher-temperature transition is magnetic in origin. By contrast Fe1.03Te has a single transition which shows a uniform response to magnetic field, indicating a stronger coupling of the magnetic and structural phase transitions. We also introduce uniaxial stress, which spreads the distribution width without changing the underlying energy barrier of the transformation. The work shows how FORC can help disentangle the roles of the magnetic and structural phase transitions in FeTe.Comment: 8 page

NMR investigation of the Knight shift anomaly in CeIrIn5 at high magnetic fields

We report nuclear magnetic resonance Knight shift data in the heavy fermion material CeIrIn5 at fields up to 30 T. The Knight shift of the In displays a strong anomaly, and we analyze the results using two different interpretations. We find that the Kondo lattice coherence temperature and the effective mass of the heavy electrons remains largely unaffected by the magnetic field, despite the fact that the Zeeman energy is on the order of the coherence temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.

Uncovering the Hidden Order in URu2Si2 by Impurity Doping

We report the use of impurities to probe the hidden order parameter of the strongly correlated metal URu_2Si_2 below the transition temperature T_0 ~ 17.5 K. The nature of this order parameter has eluded researchers for more than two decades, but is accompanied by the development of a partial gap in the single particle density of states that can be detected through measurements of the electronic specific heat and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate. We find that impurities in the hidden order phase give rise to local patches of antiferromagnetism. An analysis of the coupling between the antiferromagnetism and the hidden order reveals that the former is not a competing order parameter but rather a parasitic effect of the latter.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Disorder in a Quantum Critical Superconductor

In four classes of materials, the layered copper-oxides, organics, iron-pnictides and heavy-fermion compounds, an unconventional superconducting state emerges as a magnetic transition is tuned toward absolute zero temperature, that is, toward a magnetic quantum-critical point (QCP). In most materials, the QCP is accessed by chemical substitutions or applied pressure. CeCoIn5 is one of the few materials that are born as a quantum-critical superconductor and, therefore, offers the opportunity to explore the consequences of chemical disorder. Cadmium-doped crystals of CeCoIn5 are a particularly interesting case where Cd substitution induces long-range magnetic order, as in Zn-doped copper-oxides. Applied pressure globally supresses the Cd-induced magnetic order and restores bulk superconductivity. Here we show, however, that local magnetic correlations, whose spatial extent decreases with applied pressure, persist at the extrapolated QCP. The residual droplets of impurity-induced magnetic moments prevent the reappearance of conventional signatures of quantum criticality, but induce a heterogeneous electronic state. These discoveries show that spin droplets can be a source of electronic heterogeneity in classes of strongly correlated electron systems and emphasize the need for caution when interpreting the effects of tuning a correlated system by chemical substitution.Comment: main text and supplementary informatio

Crystalline Electric Field Excitations in the Heavy Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn_5

The crystalline electric field (CEF) energy level scheme of the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn_5 has been determined by means of inelastic neutron scattering (INS). Peaks observed in the INS spectra at 8 meV and 27 meV with incident neutron energies between E_i=30-60 meV and at a temperature T = 10 K correspond to transitions from the ground state to the two excited states, respectively. The wavevector and temperature dependence of these peaks are consistent with CEF excitations. Fits of the data to a CEF model yield the CEF parameters B^0_2=-0.80 meV, B^0_4=0.059 meV, and |B^4_4|= 0.137 meV corresponding to an energy level scheme: Gamma_7^(1) (0)[=0.487|+/-5/2> - 0.873|-/+3/2>], Gamma_7^(2) (8.6 meV, 100 K), and Gamma_6 (24.4 meV, 283 K).Comment: uses latex packages revtex4,amsmath,graphicx,natbib, 9th Annual MMM-Intermag Conference, (Accepted for publication in J. Appl. Phys.) 7 pages, 2 figure

Low Frequency Spin Dynamics in the CeMIn_5 Materials

We measure the spin lattice relaxation of the In(1) nuclei in the CeMIn_5 materials, extract quantitative information about the low energy spin dynamics of the lattice of Ce moments in both CeRhIn_5 and CeCoIn_5, and identify a crossover in the normal state. Above a temperature T* the Ce lattice exhibits "Kondo gas" behavior characterized by local fluctuations of independently screened moments; below T* both systems exhibit a "Kondo liquid" regime in which interactions between the local moments contribute to the spin dynamics. Both the antiferromagnetic and superconducting ground states in these systems emerge from the "Kondo liquid" regime. Our analysis provides strong evidence for quantum criticality in CeCoIn_5.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure