Nd-ion Substitution Effect on f-electron Multipole Order of PrRu4P12

We studied the effect of magnetic Nd-ion substitution on the metal-nonmetal transition at a transition temperature of 63 K of PrRu4P12, which is characterized by antiferro-type electric multipole ordering of Pr-ion 4f electrons. The transition temperature of Pr1-xNdxRu4P12 depends weakly on the Nd concentration x as compared to Laand Ce-substituted compounds. Inelastic neutron-scattering measurements revealed that the energies and widths of crystalline field excitation peaks of Pr 4f 2 in Pr0.85Nd0.15Ru4P12 are very similar to those of PrRu4P12. These experimental results indicate that the ordered state is robust against the substitution of magnetic Nd ions as compared to the La and Ce substitutions. Magnetic interactions between the Pr ions and the Nd ions in Pr1-xNdxRu4P12 help stabilize the magnetic triplet ground state of the Pr ions that appears in the antiferro-type multipole ordered phase. Therefore, the nonmagnetic multipole ordered phase of PrRu4P12 is compatible with the magnetic perturbation.Conference : 20th International Conference on Magnetism, ICM 2015Location : Barcelona, SPAINDate : JUL 05-10, 201