379 research outputs found
Susceptibility Inhomogeneity and Non-Fermi-Liquid Behavior in Ce(Ru_{0.5}Rh_{0.5})_2Si_2
Magnetic susceptibility and muon spin rotation (\muSR) experiments have been
carried out to study the effect of structural disorder on the non-Fermi-liquid
(NFL) behavior of the heavy-fermion alloy Ce(Ru_{0.5}Rh_{0.5})_2Si_2. Analysis
of the bulk susceptibility in the framework of disorder-driven Griffiths-phase
and Kondo-disorder models for NFL behavior yields relatively narrow
distributions of characteristic spin fluctuation energies, in agreement with
\muSR linewidths that give the inhomogeneous spread in susceptibility. \muSR
and NMR data both indicate that disorder explains the "nearly NFL" behavior
observed above \sim2 K, but does not dominate the NFL physics found at low
temperatures and low magnetic fields.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Actes du Congrès Collèges célébrations 92
Également disponible en version papierTitre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 19 août 2009
Griffiths phase of the Kondo insulator fixed point
Heavy fermion compounds have long been identified as systems which are
extremely sensitive to the presence of impurities and other imperfections. In
recent years, both experimental and theoretical work has demonstrated that such
disorder can lead to unusual, non-Fermi liquid behavior for most physical
quantities. In this paper, we show that this anomalous sensitivity to disorder,
as well as the resulting Griffiths phase behavior, directly follow from the
proximity of metallic heavy fermion systems to the Kondo insulator fixed point.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; Proceedings of the SCES, August 2000, to appear
in the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Material
High-field muSR studies of superconducting and magnetic correlations in cuprates above Tc
The advent of high transverse-field muon spin rotation (TF-muSR) has led to
recent muSR investigations of the magnetic-field response of cuprates above the
superconducting transition temperature T_c. Here the results of such
experiments on hole-doped cuprates are reviewed. Although these investigations
are currently ongoing, it is clear that the effects of high field on the
internal magnetic field distribution of these materials is dependent upon a
competition between superconductivity and magnetism. In La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 the
response to the external field above Tc is dominated by heterogeneous spin
magnetism. However, the magnetism that dominates the observed inhomogeneous
line broadening below x ~ 0.19 is overwhelmed by the emergence of a completely
different kind of magnetism in the heavily overdoped regime. The origin of the
magnetism above x ~ 0.19 is currently unknown, but its presence hints at a
competition between superconductivity and magnetism that is reminiscent of the
underdoped regime. In contrast, the width of the internal field distribution of
underdoped YBa_2Cu_3O_y above Tc is observed to track Tc and the density of
superconducting carriers. This observation suggests that the magnetic response
above Tc is not dominated by electronic moments, but rather inhomogeneous
fluctuating superconductivity.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, 104 reference
Spin dynamics and spin freezing in the triangular lattice antiferromagnets FeGa2S4 and NiGa2S4
Magnetic susceptibility and muon spin relaxation (muSR) experiments have been
carried out on the quasi-2D triangular-lattice spin S = 2 antiferromagnet
FeGa2S4. The muSR data indicate a sharp onset of a frozen or nearly-frozen spin
state at T* = 31(2) K, twice the spin-glass-like freezing temperature T_f =
16(1) K. The susceptibility becomes field dependent below T*, but no sharp
anomaly is observed in any bulk property. A similar transition is observed in
muSR data from the spin-1 isomorph NiGa2S4. In both compounds the dynamic muon
spin relaxation rate lambda_d(T) above T* agrees well with a calculation of
spin-lattice relaxation by Chubukov, Sachdev, and Senthil in the renormalized
classical regime of a 2D frustrated quantum antiferromagnet. There is no firm
evidence for other mechanisms. At low temperatures lambda_d(T) becomes
temperature independent in both compounds, indicating persistence of spin
dynamics. Scaling of lambda_d(T) between the two compounds is observed from
~T_f to ~1.5T*. Although the muSR data by themselves cannot exclude a truly
static spin component below T*, together with the susceptibility data they are
consistent with a slowly-fluctuating "spin gel" regime between T_f and T*. Such
a regime and the absence of a divergence in lambda_d(T) at T* are features of
two unconventional mechanisms: (1) binding/unbinding of Z_2 vortex excitations,
and (2) impurity spins in a nonmagnetic spin-nematic ground state. The absence
of a sharp anomaly or history dependence at T* in the susceptibility of
FeGa2S4, and the weakness of such phenomena in NiGa2S4, strongly suggest
transitions to low-temperature phases with unconventional dynamics.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
The Nature of the Near-IR Core Source in 3C 433
We report the analysis of near-infrared imaging, polarimetric and
spectroscopic observations of the powerful radio galaxy 3C433, obtained with
the HST and UKIRT telescopes. The high spatial resolution of HST allows us to
study the near-nuclear regions of the galaxy (<1 kpc). In line with previous
observations, we find that 3C433 has an unresolved core source that is detected
in all near-IR bands, but dominates over the host galaxy emission at 2.05 um.
Our analysis reveals: (1) the presence of a dust lane aligned close to
perpendicular (PA=70\pm5\degr) to the inner radio jet axis
(PA=-12\pm2\degr); (2) a steep slope to the near-IR SED (;
F); (3) an apparent lack of broad permitted
emission lines at near-IR wavelengths, in particular the absence of a broad
Pa emission line; and (4) high intrinsic polarization for the
unresolved core nuclear source ( per cent), with an E-vector
perpendicular (PA=83.0\pm 2.3\degr) to the inner radio jet. Using five
independent techniques we determine an extinction to the compact core source in
the range 3<A_V<67 mag. An analysis of the long wavelength SED rules out a
synchrotron origin for the high near-IR polarization of the compact core
source. Therefore, scattering and dichroic extinction are plausible polarizing
mechanisms, although in both of these cases the broad permitted lines from the
AGN are required to have a width >10^4 km/s (FWHM) to escape detection in our
near-IR spectrum. Dichroic extinction is the most likely polarization mechanism
because it is consistent with the various available extinction estimates. In
this case, a highly ordered, coherent toroidal magnetic field must be present
in the obscuring structure close to the nucleus.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Ga NMR study of the local susceptibility in SrCr8Ga4O19: pseudogap and paramagnetic defects
We present the first Ga(4f) NMR study of the Cr susceptibility in the
archetype of Kagome based frustrated antiferromagnets,
SrCrGaO. Our major finding is that the susceptibility of the
frustrated lattice goes through a maximum around 50 K. Our data also supports
the existence of paramagnetic ``clusters'' of spins, responsible for the Curie
behavior observed in the macroscopic susceptibility at low T. These results set
novel features for the constantly debated physics of geometrically frustrated
magnets.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Muon spin rotation and relaxation in magnetic materials
A review of the muon spin rotation and relaxation (SR) studies on
magnetic materials published from July 1993 is presented. It covers the
investigation of magnetic phase diagrams, of spin dynamics and the analysis of
the magnetic properties of superconductors. We have chosen to focus on selected
experimental works in these different topics. In addition, a list of published
works is provided.Comment: Review article, 59 pages, LaTeX with IoP macro
- …