Strongly correlated electron behavior in RFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$ (R=rare earth elements, Zr, Hf)

ORAL

Abstract

GdFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$ has a remarkably high ferromagnetic ordering temperature ($T_C$=86K), which can be explained as a result of submerging large local moments into a nearly ferromagnetic Fermi liquid YFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$. Thermodynamic and transport properties of pseudoquaternary compounds Y$_{1-x}$Gd$_x$Fe$_2 $Zn$_{20}$ show ferromagnetic ground state for $x>0.02$, and reveal the polarization of correlated electrons related to the concentration of Gd. Comparing with YFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$, stronger itinerant electron magnetism was observed in ScFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$, ZrFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$ and HfFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$, whose properties place them even closer to the Stoner limit than YFe$_2$Zn$_{20}$.

Authors

  • S.L. Bud'ko

  • S. Jia

  • J. Frederick

  • Ni Ni

  • A.S. Sefat

  • P.C. Canfield

    • Ames Laboratory and Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University