Vibrational and electronic entropy of β-cerium and γ-cerium measured by inelastic neutron scattering

Time-of-flight (TOF) inelastic neutron-scattering spectra were measured on β-cerium (double hcp) and γ-cerium (fcc) near the phase-transition temperature. Phonon densities of states (DOS) and crystal-field levels were extracted from the TOF spectra. A softening of the phonon DOS occurs in the transition from β- to γ-cerium, accounting for an increase in vibrational entropy of ΔSvibγ-β=(0.09±0.05)kB/atom. The entropy calculated from the crystal-field levels and a fit to calorimetry data from the literature were significantly larger in β-cerium than in γ-cerium below room temperature, but the difference was found to be negligible at the experimental phase-transition temperature. A contribution to the specific heat from Kondo spin fluctuations was consistent with the quasielastic magnetic scattering, but the difference between phases was negligible. To be consistent with the latent heat of the β-γ transition, the increase in vibrational entropy at the phase transition may be accompanied by a decrease in electronic entropy not associated with the crystal-field splitting or spin fluctuations. At least three sources of entropy need to be considered for the β-γ transition in cerium

Large harmonic softening of the phonon density of states of uranium

Phonon density-of-states curves were obtained from inelastic neutron scattering spectra from the three crystalline phases of uranium at temperatures from 50 to 1213 K. The alpha -phase showed an unusually large thermal softening of phonon frequencies. Analysis of the vibrational power spectrum showed that this phonon softening originates with the softening of a harmonic solid, as opposed to vibrations in anharmonic potentials. It follows that thermal excitations of electronic states are more significant thermodynamically than are the classical volume effects. For the alpha-beta and beta-gamma phase transitions, vibrational and electronic entropies were comparable

Nature of the Magnetic Order in BaMn2As2

Neutron diffraction measurements have been performed on a powder sample of BaMn2As2 over the temperature T range from 10 K to 675 K. These measurements demonstrate that this compound exhibits collinear antiferromagnetic ordering below the Neel temperature T_N = 625(1) K. The ordered moment mu = 3.88(4) mu_B/Mn at T = 10 K is oriented along the c axis and the magnetic structure is G-type, with all nearest-neighbor Mn moments antiferromagnetically aligned. The value of the ordered moment indicates that the oxidation state of Mn is Mn^{2+} with a high spin S = 5/2. The T dependence of mu suggests that the magnetic transition is second-order in nature. In contrast to the closely related AFe2As2 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba, Eu) compounds, no structural distortion is observed in the magnetically ordered state of BaMn2As2.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; v2: additional discussion of Mn-Mn interactions; accepted for publication as a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev.

Effective One-Dimensional Coupling in the Highly-Frustrated Square-Lattice Itinerant Magnet CaCo2−y_{\mathrm{2}-y}As2_{2}

Inelastic neutron scattering measurements on the itinerant antiferromagnet (AFM) CaCo$_{\mathrm{2}-y}$As$_{2}$ at a temperature of 8 K reveal two orthogonal planes of scattering perpendicular to the Co square lattice in reciprocal space, demonstrating the presence of effective one-dimensional spin interactions. These results are shown to arise from near-perfect bond frustration within the $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg model on a square lattice with ferromagnetic $J_1$, and hence indicate that the extensive previous experimental and theoretical study of the $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg model on local-moment square spin lattices should be expanded to include itinerant spin systems

Commensurate antiferromagnetic ordering in Ba(Fe{1-x}Co{x})2As2 determined by x-ray resonant magnetic scattering at the Fe K-edge

We describe x-ray resonant magnetic diffraction measurements at the Fe K-edge of both the parent BaFe2As2 and superconducting Ba(Fe0.953Co0.047)2As2 compounds. From these high-resolution measurements we conclude that the magnetic structure is commensurate for both compositions. The energy spectrum of the resonant scattering is in reasonable agreement with theoretical calculations using the full-potential linear augmented plane wave method with a local density functional.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B Rapid Com