In this paper, we present the systematic measurements of the temperature and magnetic field dependences of the thermodynamic and transport properties of the Yb-based heavy fermion YbPtBi for temperatures down to 0.02 K with magnetic fields up to 140 kOe to address the possible existence of a field-tuned quantum critical point. Measurements of magnetic field and temperature dependent resistivity, specific heat, thermal expansion, Hall effect, and thermoelectric power indicate that the AFM order can be suppressed by applied magnetic field of Hc∼ 4 kOe. In the H−T phase diagram of YbPtBi, three regimes of its low temperature states emerges: (I) AFM state, characterized by spin density wave (SDW) like feature, which can be suppressed to T = 0 by the relatively small magnetic field of Hc∼ 4\,kOe, (II) field induced anomalous state in which the electrical resistivity follows Δρ(T)∝T1.5 between Hc and ∼ 8 kOe, and (III) Fermi liquid (FL) state in which Δρ(T)∝T2 for H≥ 8 kOe. Regions I and II are separated at T = 0 by what appears to be a quantum critical point. Whereas region III appears to be a FL associated with the hybridized 4f states of Yb, region II may be a manifestation of a spin liquid state.
@article{arxiv.1211.0636,
title = {Magnetic field tuned quantum criticality of heavy fermion system YbPtBi},
author = {E. D. Mun and S. L. Bud'ko and C. Martin and H. Kim and M. A. Tanatar and J. -H. Park and T. Murphy and G. M. Schmiedeshoff and N. Dilley and R. Prozorov and P. C. Canfield},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1211.0636},
year = {2013}
}