Time-reversal symmetry breaking in noncentrosymmetric superconductor Re6Hf:further evidence for unconventional behaviour in the alpha-Mn family of materials

The discovery of new families of unconventional superconductors is important both experimentally and theoretically, especially if it challenges current models and thinking. By using muon spin relaxation in zero-field, time-reversal symmetry breaking has been observed in Re6Hf. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the superfluid density exhibits s-wave superconductivity with an enhanced electron-phonon coupling. This, coupled with the results from isostructural Re6Zr, shows that the Re6X family are indeed a new and important group of unconventional superconductors.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures Accepted Physical Review B, Rapid Communicatio

Unusual Coupling Between Field-induced Spin Fluctuations and Spin Density Wave in Intermetallic CeAg2Ge2

We report on the experimental evidences for an unusual coupling between the magnetic field- induced fluctuations of correlated Ce-ions coinciding with the discontinuous movement of the underlying spin density wave in the intermetallic rare earth compound CeAg2Ge2. The measurements performed using neutron scattering and magnetic Gruneisen ratio methods suggest that the coupling onsets at H= 2.7 T, T < 3.8 K and persists to the lowest measurement temperature T ~ 0.05 K. These measurements suggest a new mechanism behind the spin fluctuations which can affect the intrinsic properties of the system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Strongly correlated electrons syste

Magnetic and transport properties of Pr2Pt3Si5

We have investigated the magnetic and transport properties of a polycrystalline Pr2Pt3Si5 sample through the dc and ac magnetic susceptibilities, electrical resistivity, and specific heat measurements. The Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray diffraction data reveals that Pr2Pt3Si5 crystallizes in the U2Co3Si5-type orthorhombic structure (space group Ibam). Both the dc and ac magnetic susceptibility data measured at low fields exhibit sharp anomaly near 15 K. In contrast, the specific heat data exhibit only a broad anomaly implying no long range magnetic order down to 2 K. The broad Schottky-type anomaly in low temperature specific heat data is interpreted in terms of crystal electric field (CEF) effect, and a CEF-split singlet ground state is inferred. The absence of the long range order is attributed to the presence of nonmagnetic singlet ground state of the Pr3+ ion. The electrical resistivity data exhibit metallic behavior and are well described by the Bloch-Gr\"uniesen-Mott relation.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure