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Onset of antiferromagnetism in heavy-fermion metals

Nature volume 407, pages 351–355 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

There are two main theoretical descriptions of antiferromagnets. The first arises from atomic physics, which predicts that atoms with unpaired electrons develop magnetic moments. In a solid, the coupling between moments on nearby ions then yields antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures1. The second description, based on the physics of electron fluids or ‘Fermi liquids’, states that Coulomb interactions can drive the fluid to adopt a more stable configuration by developing a spin density wave2,3. It is at present unknown which view is appropriate at a ‘quantum critical point’, where the antiferromagnetic transition temperature vanishes4,5,6,7. Here we report neutron scattering and bulk magnetometry measurements of the metal CeCu6-xAux, which allow us to discriminate between the two models. We find evidence for an atomically local contribution to the magnetic correlations which develops at the critical gold concentration (xc = 0.1 ), corresponding to a magnetic ordering temperature of zero. This contribution implies that a Fermi-liquid-destroying spin-localizing transition, unanticipated from the spin density wave description, coincides with the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point.

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Figure 1: Phase diagram and models for quantum criticality in CeCu6- xAux.
Figure 2: Magnetic neutron scattering data.
Figure 3: Temperature dependence of the inverse static susceptibility.
Figure 4: Temperature is the only scale for energy and field-dependent response at quantum criticality.

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Acknowledgements

A.S., O.S. and H.v.L. were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; R.C. was supported by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Postdoctoral Research Associates program, administered jointly by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education; P.C. and R.R. were supported by the National Science Foundation. R.R. acknowledges partial support from the MacArthur Chair endowed by the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation at the University of Illinois.

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Author notes

  1. P. Coleman

    Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Center for Materials Theory, Rutgers University, Piscataway, 08854, New Jersey, USA

  2. O. Stockert

    Present address: H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TL, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, D-76128, Germany

    A. Schröder, O. Stockert & H.v. Löhneysen

  2. NEC, 4 Independence Way, Princeton, 08540, New Jersey, USA

    G. Aeppli

  3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, 37831, Tennessee, USA

    R. Coldea

  4. ISIS Facility, CCLRC, Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK

    R. Coldea & M. Adams

  5. Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, D-78457, Germany

    E. Bucher

  6. Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies , Murray Hill, 07974, New Jersey, USA

    E. Bucher

  7. Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    R. Ramazashvili

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Correspondence to P. Coleman.

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Schröder, A., Aeppli, G., Coldea, R. et al. Onset of antiferromagnetism in heavy-fermion metals. Nature 407, 351–355 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35030039

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