23 research outputs found
Role of p-f Hybridization in the Metal-Non-Metal Transition of PrRu4P12
Electronic state evolution in the metal-non-metal transition of PrRu4P12 has
been studied by X-ray and polarized neutron diffraction experiments. It has
been revealed that, in the low-temperature non-metallic phase, two inequivalent
crystal-field (CF) schemes of Pr3+ 4f^2 electrons with Gamma_1 and Gamma_4^(2)
ground states are located at Pr1 and Pr2 sites forming the bcc unit cell
surrounded by the smaller and larger cubic Ru-ion sublattices, respectively.
This modulated electronic state can be explained by the p-f hybridization
mechanism taking two intermediate states of 4f^1 and 4f^3. The p-f
hybridization effect plays an important role for the electronic energy gain in
the metal-non-metal transition originated from the Fermi surface nesting.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by J. Phys. Soc. Jp