Dualism of the 4f electrons and high-temperature antiferromagnetism of the heavy-fermion compound YbCoC$_{2}$

Abstract

We report on the first study of the noncentrosymmetric ternary carbide YbCoC$_{2}$. Our magnetization, specific heat, resistivity and neutron diffraction measurements consistently show that the system behaves as a heavy-fermion compound, displaying an amplitude-modulated magnetic structure below the N\'eel temperature reaching $T_{N}$ = 33 K under pressure. Such a large value, being the highest among the Yb-based systems, is explained in the light of our ab initio calculations, which show that the 4f electronic states of Yb have a dual nature -- i.e., due to their strong hybridization with the 3d states of Co, 4f states expose both localized and itinerant properties.