Quantum Criticality in the strongly correlated 3d electron system YFe$_{2}$Al$_{10}$

ORAL

Abstract

YFe$_{2}$Al$_{10}$ has recently been identified as a strongly correlated 3d -electron system that is located very close to a quantum critical point (QCP). At low temperatures, divergences were found in the ac magnetic susceptibility ($\chi '\propto T^{-1.3})$ and magnetic specific heat ($C_M /T\propto T^{-0.47})$ based on the measurements carried out on single crystals. The magnetic Gruneisen ratio determined from these measurements ($\Gamma /H=-\frac{1}{T}\frac{\partial S/\partial B}{\partial S/\partial T}=-\frac{\partial M/\partial T}{C})$ also shows a strong divergence as $T\to 0$, which is suppressed in fields indicating a quantum critical point at B=0. When applying magnetic field, Fermi liquid like behavior with an enhanced magnetic susceptibility $\chi _{0}$ and Sommerfeld coefficient C/T emerges at T$<$T$_{FL}$, and this enabled us to establish a field temperature (B-T) phase diagram with a crossover temperature T$_{FL}$(B) coming out from the QCP at B=0. This is very similar to the quantum critical behavior observed in many f-electron based heavy fermion (HF) systems, and it makes YFe$_{2}$Al$_{10}$ an interesting 3d- electron candidate for studying quantum criticality.

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Authors

  • L.S. Wu

    • Stony Brook University
  • K. Park

    • Brookhaven National Lab
  • Y. Janssen

    • Brookhaven National Lab
  • M.S. Kim

    • Brookhaven National Lab
  • C. Marques

    • Brookhaven National Lab
  • M.C. Aronson

    • Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Lab