449 research outputs found
High Field de Haas - van Alphen Studies of the Fermi Surfaces of LaMIn (M = Co, Rh, Ir)
We report measurements of the de Haas - van Alphen effect on a series of
compounds, LaMIn (M = Co, Rh, Ir). The results show that each of the Co
and Ir Fermi surfaces (FSs) exhibit some portions that are two dimensional and
some portions that are three dimensional. The most two dimensional character is
exhibited in LaCoIn, less two dimensional behavior is seen in
LaIrIn, no part of Fermi surface of LaRhIn is found to have a two
dimensional character. Thus the two dimensionality of portions of the FSs is
largely determined by the d character of the energy bands while all of the
effective masses remain 1.2. This fact has implications for the causes
of the heavy fermion nature of superconductivity and magnetism in the Ce-based
compounds having the similar composition and structure. All of the measurements
were performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory using either
cantilever magnetometry or field modulation methods.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Intersite coupling effects in a Kondo lattice
The La dilution of the Kondo lattice CeCoIn_5 is studied. The scaling laws
found for the magnetic susceptibility and the specific heat reveal two
well-separated energy scales, corresponding to the single impurity Kondo
temperature T_K and an intersite spin-liquid temperature T^*. The Ce-dilute
alloy has the expected Fermi liquid ground state, while the specific heat and
resistivity in the dense Kondo regime exhibit non-Fermi-liquid behavior, which
scales with T^*. These observations indicate that the screening of the magnetic
moments in the lattice involves antiferromagnetic intersite correlations with a
larger energy scale in comparison with the Kondo impurity case.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
First Observation of Quantum Oscillations in the Ferromagnetic Superconductor UCoGe
We succeeded in growing high quality single crystals of the ferromagnetic
superconductor UCoGe and measured the magnetoresistance at fields up to 34T.
The Shubnikov-de Haas signal was observed for the first time in a U-111 system
(UTGe, UTSi, T: transition metal). A small pocket Fermi surface (F~1kT) with
large cyclotron effective mass 25m0 was detected at high fields above 22T,
implying that UCoGe is a low carrier system accompanyed with heavy
quasi-particles. The observed frequency decreases with increasing fields,
indicating that the volume of detected Fermi surface changes nonlinearly with
field. The cyclotron mass also decreases, which is consistent with the decrease
of the A coefficient of resistivity.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
An Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Variation of 4f Hybridization Across the La1-xCexIn3 Series
Crystal structures of a series of La1-xCexIn3 (x = 0.02, 0.2, 0.5, or 0.8)
intermetallic compounds have been investigated by both neutron and X-ray
diffraction, and their physical properties have been characterized by magnetic
susceptibility and specific heat measurements. Our results emphasize atypical
atomic displacement parameters (ADP) for the In and the rare-earth sites.
Depending on the x value, the In ADP presents either an "ellipsoidal"
elongation (La-rich compounds) or a "butterfly-like" distortion (Ce-rich
compounds). These deformations have been understood by theoretical techniques
based on the band theory and are the result of hybridization between conduction
electrons and 4f-electrons.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Chemical Pressure and Physical Pressure in BaFe_2(As_{1-x}P_{x})_2
Measurements of the superconducting transition temperature, T_c, under
hydrostatic pressure via bulk AC susceptibility were carried out on several
concentrations of phosphorous substitution in BaFe_2(As_{1-x}P_x)_2. The
pressure dependence of unsubstituted BaFe_2As_2, phosphorous concentration
dependence of BaFe_2(As_{1-x}P_x)_2, as well as the pressure dependence of
BaFe_2(As_{1-x}P_x)_2 all point towards an identical maximum T_c of 31 K. This
demonstrates that phosphorous substitution and physical pressure result in
similar superconducting phase diagrams, and that phosphorous substitution does
not induce substantial impurity scattering.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Journal of the Physical
Society of Japa
Effect of Disorder on Fermi surface in Heavy Electron Systems
The Kondo lattice model with substitutional disorder is studied with
attention to the size of the Fermi surface and the associated Dingle
temperature. The model serves for understanding heavy-fermion Ce compounds
alloyed with La according to substitution Ce{x}La{1-x}. The Fermi surface is
identified from the steepest change of the momentum distribution of conduction
electrons, and is derived at low enough temperature by the dynamical mean-field
theory (DMFT) combined with the coherent potential approximation (CPA). The
Fermi surface without magnetic field increases in size with decreasing x from
x=1 (Ce end), and disappears at such x that gives the same number of localized
spins as that of conduction electrons. From the opposite limit of x=0 (La end),
the Fermi surface broadens quickly as x increases, but stays at the same
position as that of the La end. With increasing magnetic field, a metamagnetic
transition occurs, and the Fermi surface above the critical field changes
continuously across the whole range of x. The Dingle temperature takes a
maximum around x=0.5. Implication of the results to experimental observation is
discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Determination of the Upper Critical Field of a Single Crystal LiFeAs: The Magnetic Torque Study up to 35 Tesla
We report on the upper critical field B_c2 of a superconducting LiFeAs single
crystal with T_c~16 K, determined from magnetic torque measurements in
dc-magnetic fields up to 35 T and at temperatures down to 0.3 K. B_c2 at 0.3 K
is obtained to be 26.4 T and 15.5 T for the applied field B_a||ab and B_a||c,
respectively. The anisotropy parameter = is ~ 3 at
T_c and decreases to 1.7 as , showing rather isotropic
superconductivity. While B_c2 is orbitally-limited for B_a||c, the
spin-paramagnetic effect is evident in the temperature dependence of B_c2 for
B_a||abComment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revised version to be published in J. Phys. Soc.
Jpn. as a letter articl
Magnetic structure of CeRhIn_5 as a function of pressure and temperature
We report magnetic neutron-diffraction and electrical resistivity studies on
single crystals of the heavy-fermion antiferromagnet CeRhIn at pressures
up to 2.3 GPa. These experiments show that the staggered moment of Ce and the
incommensurate magnetic structure change weakly with applied pressure up to
1.63 GPa, where resistivity, specific heat and NQR measurements confirm the
presence of bulk superconductivity. This work places new constraints on an
interpretation of the relationship between antiferromagnetism and
unconventional superconductivity in CeRhIn.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Frustration and the Kondo effect in heavy fermion materials
The observation of a separation between the antiferromagnetic phase boundary
and the small-large Fermi surface transition in recent experiments has led to
the proposal that frustration is an important additional tuning parameter in
the Kondo lattice model of heavy fermion materials. The introduction of a Kondo
(K) and a frustration (Q) axis into the phase diagram permits us to discuss the
physics of heavy fermion materials in a broader perspective. The current
experimental situation is analysed in the context of this combined "QK" phase
diagram. We discuss various theoretical models for the frustrated Kondo
lattice, using general arguments to characterize the nature of the -electron
localization transition that occurs between the spin liquid and heavy Fermi
liquid ground-states. We concentrate in particular on the Shastry--Sutherland
Kondo lattice model, for which we establish the qualitative phase diagram using
strong coupling arguments and the large- expansion. The paper closes with
some brief remarks on promising future theoretical directions.Comment: To appear in a special issue of JLT
Primary skin fibroblasts as a model of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder. While most cases occur sporadic mutations in a growing number of genes including Parkin (PARK2) and PINK1 (PARK6) have been associated with the disease. Different animal models and cell models like patient skin fibroblasts and recombinant cell lines can be used as model systems for Parkinson's disease. Skin fibroblasts present a system with defined mutations and the cumulative cellular damage of the patients. PINK1 and Parkin genes show relevant expression levels in human fibroblasts and since both genes participate in stress response pathways, we believe fibroblasts advantageous in order to assess, e.g. the effect of stressors. Furthermore, since a bioenergetic deficit underlies early stage Parkinson's disease, while atrophy underlies later stages, the use of primary cells seems preferable over the use of tumor cell lines. The new option to use fibroblast-derived induced pluripotent stem cells redifferentiated into dopaminergic neurons is an additional benefit. However, the use of fibroblast has also some drawbacks. We have investigated PARK6 fibroblasts and they mirror closely the respiratory alterations, the expression profiles, the mitochondrial dynamics pathology and the vulnerability to proteasomal stress that has been documented in other model systems. Fibroblasts from patients with PARK2, PARK6, idiopathic Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 demonstrated a distinct and unique mRNA expression pattern of key genes in neurodegeneration. Thus, primary skin fibroblasts are a useful Parkinson's disease model, able to serve as a complement to animal mutants, transformed cell lines and patient tissues
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