Thermal, magnetic and electronic properties of non-centrosymmetric YbPt2B.

Ternary YbPt2B crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric hexagonal CePt2B-type structure (space group P6(2)22). Electrical resistivity, specific heat and magnetic measurements reveal a magnetic instability at 5.6 K. Furthermore, a spin-reorientation of presumably a ferromagnetic type occurs around 1.5 K. The behaviour at low temperature is governed by a rather weak Kondo effect, T(K) ⩽ 1 K, in the presence of strong crystalline electric field splitting, with a doublet ground state. Besides, the complex magnetic behaviour presumably results from a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction triggered by the absence of inversion symmetry in the crystal structure. Scaling according to the de Gennes factor traces back magnetic ordering in YbPt2B to the Rudermann-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) interaction and the smooth evolution of the lattice constants and the unit cell volume of REPt2B (RE = rare earths) refers to the 4f(13) electronic configuration of Yb in YbPt2B.

Magnetically interacting low dimensional Ni-nanostructures within porous silicon.

Electrodeposition of ferromagnetic metals, a common method to fabricate magnetic nanostructures, is used for the incorporation of Ni structures into the pores of porous silicon templates. The porous silicon is fabricated in various morphologies with average pore-diameters between 40 and 95 nm and concomitant pore-distances between 60 and 40 nm. The metal nanostructures are deposited with different geometries as spheres, ellipsoids or wires influenced by the deposition process parameters. Furthermore small Ni-particles with diameters between 3 and 6 nm can be deposited on the walls of the porous silicon template forming a metal tube. Analysis of this tube-like arrangement by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows that the distribution of the Ni-particles is quite narrow, which means that the distance between the particles is smaller than 10 nm. Such a close arrangement of the Ni-particles assures magnetic interactions between them. Due to their size these small Ni-particles are superparamagnetic but dipolar coupling between them results in a ferromagnetic behavior of the whole system. Thus a semiconducting/ferromagnetic hybrid material with a broad range of magnetic properties can be fabricated. Furthermore this composite is an interesting candidate for silicon based applications and the compatibility with today's process technology.

The system uranium-palladium-boron with U(2.5)Pd(20.5)B(6), a new heavy fermion compound.

Phase equilibria in the system U-Pd-B were established at 850 °C by light optical microscopy (LOM) and x-ray powder and single crystal diffraction. Whereas in as-cast alloys only one ternary compound, τ(1)-U(2 + x)Pd(21 - x)B(6), was found to form at x ∼ 0.5, a further compound τ(2) with hitherto unknown structure was observed in alloys annealed at 850 °C. Due to the formation of suitable single crystals, the crystal structures of two binary compounds, UB(12) and UPd(3) have been redetermined from high precision x-ray data. Similarly, the crystal structure of τ(1)-U(2.5)Pd(20.5)B(6) was investigated by single crystal x-ray diffraction (XRD) revealing isotypism with the Cr(23)C(6)-type, (space group [Formula: see text]; a = 1.1687(5) nm; R(F)(2) = Σ|F(0)(2) - F(c)(2)|/ΣF(0)(2) = 0.021). τ(1)-U(2 + x)Pd(21 - x)B(6) is a partially ordered compound where 0.37(1)U + 0.63Pd atoms randomly share the 4a site in (0, 0, 0). Whereas mutual solubility of U-borides and Pd-borides was found at 850 °C to be below 1.0 at.%, a large homogeneity region of fcc-Pd(U, B) extends into the ternary system. U(2.5)Pd(20.5)B(6) has metallic behavior; the ground state properties are determined from a balance of the Kondo effect and the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction, revealing long range antiferromagnetic ordering below 6 K. An extraordinarily large Sommerfeld value (γ > 500 mJ mol(-1) K(-2)) groups U(2.5)Pd(20.5)B(6) among heavy fermion materials.

Phase formation and ground state properties of CeCo9Si4.

The phase relations of the CeCo(9 + δ)Si(4 - δ) system have been studied by means of scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis and x-ray diffraction. Essentially single phase samples CeCo(9 + δ)Si(4 - δ) (structure-type LaFe(9)Si(4) with space group I4/mcm) are formed in a narrow composition range - 0.3 ≤ δ < 0.1, where stoichiometric CeCo(9)Si(4) exhibits full structural order in space group I4/mcm. The evolution of the ground state of correlated 3d and 4f electrons in the solid solution CeCo(9 + δ)Si(4 - δ) has been investigated by dc susceptibility, magnetization, specific heat and resistivity measurements. Stoichiometric CeCo(9)Si(4) exhibits paramagnetic Kondo lattice behaviour with a largely reduced Co 3d contribution to the magnetic susceptibility as compared to nearly ferromagnetic LaCo(9)Si(4). Nonetheless, very similar to the solid solution LaCo(9 + δ)Si(4 - δ), weak ferromagnetism is observed in CeCo(9 + δ)Si(4 - δ) for δ > 0 and is attributed to substitutional disorder at the Si-sublattice.

On the physical properties of RPd(8)B(2-x) and R(3)Pd(25-x)B(8-y) (R = La, Ce).

Physical properties (magnetization, electrical resistivity and specific heat in the temperature range from 2 to 270 K (0.3-270 K for the resistivity)) have been determined for polycrystalline samples of the ternary compounds RPd(8)B(2 - x) (CePd(8)B(2 - x) type; space group C 2/c) and R(3)Pd(25 - x)B(8 - y) (La(3)Pd(25 - x)B(8 - y) type; space group P 2(1)/c) with R = La, Ce. Rietveld refinement of x-ray powder intensity data confirmed the crystal structure and single-phase condition. LaPd(8)B(2 - x) is a novel representative of the CePd(8)B(2 - x) type (a = 1.7838(1) nm, b = 1.040 24(4) nm, c = 1.164 60(6) nm, ß = 118.56(1)°). Both cerium compounds behave like Kondo lattices.

The formation, structure and physical properties of M(2)Pd(14+x)B(5-y) compounds, with M = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Lu and Th.

Novel ternary compounds, M(2)Pd(14+x)B(5-y) (M =  La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Lu, Th; x∼0.9, y∼0.1), have been synthesized by arc melting. The crystal structures of Nd(2)Pd(14+x)B(5-y) and Th(2)Pd(14+x)B(5-y) were determined from x-ray single-crystal data and both are closely related to the structure type of Sc(4)Ni(29)B(10). All compounds were characterized by Rietveld analyses and found to be isotypic with the Nd(2)Pd(14+x)B(5-y) type. Measurements of the temperature dependent susceptibility and specific heat as well as the temperature and field dependent resistivity were employed to derive basic information on bulk properties of these compounds. The electrical resistivity of M(2)Pd(14+x)B(5-y), in general, is characterized by small RRR (residual resistance ratio) values originating from defects inherent to the crystal structure. Whereas the compounds based on Ce, Nd, Sm and Gd exhibit magnetic order, those based on Pr and Eu seem to be non-magnetic, at least down to 400 mK. While the non-magnetic ground state of the Pr based compound is a consequence of crystalline electric field effects in the context of the non-Kramers ion Pr, the lack of magnetic order in the case of the Eu based compound results from an intermediate valence state of the Eu ion.

Superconductivity in novel Ge-based skutterudites: {Sr,Ba}pt4Ge12.

Combining experiments and ab initio models we report on SrPt4Ge12 and BaPt4Ge12 as members of a novel class of superconducting skutterudites, where Sr or Ba atoms stabilize a framework entirely formed by Ge atoms. Below T(c)=5.35 and 5.10 K for BaPt4Ge12 and SrPt4Ge12, respectively, electron-phonon coupled superconductivity emerges, ascribed to intrinsic features of the Pt-Ge framework, where Ge-p states dominate the electronic structure at the Fermi energy.

Heavy fermion superconductivity and magnetic order in noncentrosymmetric CePt3Si.

CePt3Si is a novel heavy fermion superconductor, crystallizing in the CePt3B structure as a tetragonally distorted low symmetry variant of the AuCu3 structure type. CePt3Si exhibits antiferromagnetic order at T(N) approximately 2.2 K and enters into a heavy fermion superconducting state at T(c) approximately 0.75 K. Large values of H(')(c2) approximately -8.5 T/K and H(c2)(0) approximately 5 T refer to heavy quasiparticles forming Cooper pairs. Hitherto, CePt3Si is the first heavy fermion superconductor without a center of symmetry.