In the unconventional f-electron-associated charge order phase of filled skutterudite PrRu4P12, the low-temperature behaviors of the triplet crystalline-electric-field ground state of Pr ions have been studied by specific heat and magnetization measurements using high quality single crystals. Specific heat shows an anomalous Schottky-type peak structure at 0.30 K in zero field in spite of the absence of any symmetry breaking. Magnetization curve at 0.06 K shows a remarkable rounding below 1 T. It has been revealed that these anomalies provide compelling evidence for the formation of a lattice of Pr 4f-electron-nuclear hyperfine-coupled multiplets, the first known thermodynamical observation of its kind.
@article{arxiv.1105.2199,
title = {f-Electron-Nuclear Hyperfine-Coupled Multiplets in the Unconventional Charge Order Phase of Filled Skutterudite PrRu4P12},
author = {Yuji Aoki and Takahiro Namiki and Shanta R. Saha and Takashi Tayama and Toshiro Sakakibara and Ryousuke Shiina and Hiroyuki Shiba and Hitoshi Sugawara and Hideyuki Sato},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1105.2199},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
14 pages, 5 figures; selected as "Papers of Editors' Choice"