Glassy Spin Dynamics in Non-Fermi-Liquid UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, x = 1.0 and 1.5

Local f-electron spin dynamics in the non-Fermi-liquid heavy-fermion alloys UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, x = 1.0 and 1.5, have been studied using muon spin-lattice relaxation. The sample-averaged asymmetry function Gbar(t) indicates strongly inhomogeneous spin fluctuations, and exhibits the scaling Gbar(t,H) = Gbar(t/H^\gamma) expected from glassy dynamics. At 0.05 K \gamma(x=1.0) = 0.35 \pm 0.1, but \gamma(x=1.5) = 0.7 \pm 0.1. This is in contrast to inelastic neutron scattering results, which yield \gamma = 0.33 for both concentrations. There is no sign of static magnetism \gtrsim 10^{-3} \mu_B/U ion in either material above 0.05 K. Our results strongy suggest that both alloys are quantum spin glasses.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter

Disorder, inhomogeneity and spin dynamics in f-electron non-Fermi liquid systems

Muon spin rotation and relaxation ($\mu$SR) experiments have yielded evidence that structural disorder is an important factor in many f-electron-based non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) systems. Disorder-driven mechanisms for NFL behaviour are suggested by the observed broad and strongly temperature-dependent $\mu$SR (and NMR) linewidths in several NFL compounds and alloys. Local disorder-driven theories (Kondo disorder, Griffiths-McCoy singularity) are, however, not capable of describing the time-field scaling seen in muon spin relaxation experiments, which suggest cooperative and critical spin fluctuations rather than a distribution of local fluctuation rates. A strong empirical correlation is established between electronic disorder and slow spin fluctuations in NFL materialsComment: 24 pages, 15 figures, submitted to J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

NMR Detection of Temperature-Dependent Magnetic Inhomogeneities in URu2Si2

We present 29Si-NMR relaxation and spectral data in URu2Si2. Our echo-decay experiments detect slowly fluctuating magnetic field gradients. In addition, we find that the echo-decay shape (time dependence) varies with temperature T and its rate behaves critically near the Neel temperature TN, indicating a correlation between the gradient fluctuations and the transition to small-moment order. T-dependent broadening contributions become visible below 100 Kelvin and saturate somewhat above TN, remaining saturated at lower temperatures. Together, the line width and shift suggest partial lattice distortions below TN. We propose an intrinsic minority phase below $T_{\rm N}$ and compare our results with one of the current theoretical models.Comment: 2 pages RevTeX, 1 figure, SCES 99-Japan, to appear in Physica

Microscopic evidence for field-induced magnetism in CeCoIn5_5

We present NMR data in the normal and superconducting states of CeCoIn$_5$ for fields close to $H_{\rm c2}(0)=11.8$ T in the $ab$ plane. Recent experiments identified a first-order transition from the normal to superconducting state for $H> 10.5$ T, and a new thermodynamic phase below 290 mK within the superconducting state. We find that the Knight shifts of the In(1), In(2) and the Co are discontinuous across the first-order transition and the magnetic linewidths increase dramatically. The broadening differs for the three sites, unlike the expectation for an Abrikosov vortex lattice, and suggests the presence of static spin moments in the vortex cores. In the low-temperature and high-field phase the broad NMR lineshapes suggest ordered local moments, rather than a long wavelength quasiparticle spin density modulation expected for an FFLO phase.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Knight Shift Anomalies in Heavy Electron Materials

We calculate non-linear Knight Shift $K$ vs. susceptibility $\chi$ anomalies for Ce ions possessing local moments in metals. The ions are modeled with the Anderson Hamiltonian and studied within the non-crossing approximation (NCA). The $K-vs.- \chi$ non-linearity diminishes with decreasing Kondo temperature $T_0$ and nuclear spin- local moment separation. Treating the Ce ions as an incoherent array in CeSn$_3$, we find excellent agreement with the observed Sn $K(T)$ data.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, 3 figures available upon request from [email protected]

^{27}Al Impurity-Satellite NMR and Non-Fermi-Liquid Behavior in U_{1-x}Th_xPd_2Al_3

Non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior in the f-sublattice-diluted alloy system U_{1-x}Th_xPd_2Al_3 has been studied using ^{27}Al nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Impurity satellites due to specific U near-neighbor configurations to ^{27}Al sites are clearly resolved in both random and field-aligned powder samples. The spatial mean Kbar and rms spread delta K of impurity satellite shifts, which are related to the mean chibar and rms spread delta chi of the inhomogeneous susceptibility, have been measured in field-aligned powders with the crystalline c axis both perpendicular and parallel to the external field. The relatively narrow lines observed at low temperatures suggest that disorder- induced inhomogeneity of the f-ion--conduction-electron hybridization is not the cause of NFL behavior in these alloys: at low temperatures the experimental values of delta chi(T)/chibar(T) are much smaller than required by disorder- driven models. This is in contrast to results in at least some alloys with disordered non-f-ion nearest neighbors to f ions ("ligand disorder"), where disorder-driven theories give good accounts of NFL behavior. Our results suggest that f-ion dilution does not produce as much inhomogeneity of the hybridization strength as substitution on ligand sites.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, REVTeX. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Penetration depth, multiband superconductivity, and absence of muon-induced perturbation in superconducting PrOs4_{4}Sb12_{12}

Transverse-field muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) experiments in the heavy-fermion superconductor PrOs$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$ ($T_{c}=1.85$ K) suggest that the superconducting penetration depth $\lambda(T)$ is temperature-independent at low temperatures, consistent with a gapped quasiparticle excitation spectrum. In contrast, radiofrequency (rf) inductive measurements yield a stronger temperature dependence of $\lambda(T)$, indicative of point nodes in the gap. This discrepancy appears to be related to the multiband structure of PrOs$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$. Muon Knight shift measurements in PrOs$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$ suggest that the perturbing effect of the muon charge on the neighboring Pr$^{3+}$ crystalline electric field is negligibly small, and therefore is unlikely to cause the difference between the $\mu$SR and rf results.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Theory of Impurity Effects on the Spin Nematic State

The effect of magnetic bond disorder in otherwise antiferro nematic ordered system is investigated. We introduced triangular-shaped ferromagnetic bond disorder in the S=1 bilinear-biquadratic model on a triangular lattice. It is shown that the coupling between the impurity magnetic moment and nonmagnetic excitation in the bulk yields single-moment anisotropy and long-range anisotropic interaction between impurity magnetic moments. This interaction can induce unconventional spin-freezing phenomena observed in triangular magnet, NiGa2S4.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figure