Temperature- and field-dependent Hall effect measurements are reported for
YbAgGe, a heavy fermion compound exhibiting a field-induced quantum phase
transition, and for two other closely related members of the RAgGe series: a
non-magnetic analogue, LuAgGe and a representative, ''good local moment'',
magnetic material, TmAgGe. Whereas the temperature dependent Hall coefficient
of YbAgGe shows behavior similar to what has been observed in a number of heavy
fermion compounds, the low temperature, field-dependent measurements reveal
well defined, sudden changes with applied field; in specific for H⊥c a
clear local maximum that sharpens as temperature is reduced below 2 K and that
approaches a value of 45 kOe - a value that has been proposed as the T=0
quantum critical point. Similar behavior was observed for H∥c where a
clear minimum in the field-dependent Hall resistivity was observed at low
temperatures. Although at our base temperatures it is difficult to distinguish
between the field-dependent behavior predicted for (i) diffraction off a
critical spin density wave or (ii) breakdown in the composite nature of the
heavy electron, for both field directions there is a distinct temperature
dependence of a feature that can clearly be associated with a field-induced
quantum critical point at T=0 persisting up to at least 2 K.Comment: revised versio
