Tuning low-temperature physical properties ofCeNiGe3by magnetic field

Abstract

We have studied the thermal, magnetic, and electrical properties of the ternary intermetallic system CeNiGe 3 by means of specific heat, magnetization, and resistivity measurements. The specific heat data, together with the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility, was analyzed on the basis of the point charge model of crystalline electric field. The J =5/ 2 multiplet of the Ce 3+ is split by the crystalline electric field into three Kramers doublets, where the second and third doublets are separated from the first ͑ground state͒ doublet by ⌬ 1 ϳ 100 K and ⌬ 2 ϳ 170 K, respectively. In zero field CeNiGe 3 exhibits an antiferromangeic order below T N = 5.0 K. For H ʈ a two metamagnetic transitions are clearly evidenced between 2 -4 K from the magnetization isotherm and extended down to 0.4 K from the magnetoresistance measurements. For H ʈ a, T N shifts to lower temperature as magnetic field increases, and ultimately disappears at H c ϳ 32.5 kOe. For H Ͼ H c , the electrical resistivity shows the quadratic temperature dependence ͑⌬ = AT 2 ͒. For H ӷ H c , an unconventional T n dependence of ⌬ with n Ͼ 2 emerges, the exponent n becomes larger as magnetic field increases. Although the antiferromagnetic phase transition temperature in CeNiGe 3 can be continuously suppressed to zero, it provides an example of field tuning that does not match current simple models of quantum criticality.

Magnetism and crystalline electric field effect in ThCr2Si2-type CeNi2AsLuo1, Bao2, Shen3 et al. 2012Phys. Rev. B

“…This situation is similar to the case in CeNiGe 3 reported by Mun et al 33 However, it is hard to get the B m l 's for this new phase since the information is very limited. To obtain more evidences for the structural distortion, we sought for the possible resistivity anisotropy in the ab plane by performing the ρ a -ρ b measurement using the van der Pauw method 34 (please note that here a and b stand for two perpendicular directions in the ab plane, not necessarily the crystallographic a and b).…”

“…29 Owing to the absence of magnetism in the Ni sublattice, the Ce-Ni-based compounds have shown great advantage in studying the Ce-4f -electron correlation. 14,33,37,38 This also accounts to the fact that the CaBe 2 Ge 2 -type CeNi 2 As 2 is a nonmagnetic Kondo lattice because the Kondo coupling is largely enhanced by one of the inverted NiAs layer. Compared with all these cases, the ThCr 2 Si 2 -type CeNi 2 As 2 has a relatively small Kondo coupling but a moderately strong magnetic frustration.…”

Pressure-tuned quantum criticality in the antiferromagnetic Kondo semimetal CeNi 2− δ As 2

“…At the zero-pressure critical field, B c ð0Þ = 2.8 T, the T-linear specific heat is a maximum [γ 0 = 657 mJ/(mol · K 2 ), as shown in Fig. 4A] and ρ xx ðTÞ increases as T 1.53 , indicative of a state similar to that found at field-tuned quantum criticality in metamagnetic systems (15)(16)(17)(18). Fig.…”

Field-temperature phase diagram and entropy landscape ofCeAuSb2

“…At the lowest temperatures, ρ increases sharply at the first metamagnetic transition (at applied field H 1 ), and decreases sharply at the second (H 2 ). Elevated resistivity between H 1 and H 2 is also seen in CeNiGe 3 [4], YbNiSi 3 [8], and CeRh 2 Si 2 . [6] Data from increasing-field and decreasing-field ramps are shown together in Fig.…”

“…[1] χ c /χ a of CeRh 2 Si 2 is 5 just above its Néel temperature, and of CeRu 2 Si 2 , 15 at 10 K. [17,18] CeNiGe 3 arXiv:1602.06742v1 [cond-mat.str-el] 22 Feb 2016 is an orthorhombic system where the a axis is the easy axis; χ a /χ b and χ a /χ c are 11 and 17, respectively, just above its T N . [4] Therefore, study of CeAuSb 2 is likely to have bearing on a range of other compounds. Comparison with the CeRu 2 Si 2 -based compounds is of particular interest.…”