High-Field Ultrasonic Study of Quadrupole Ordering and Crystal Symmetry Breaking in CeRhIn5

Abstract

We performed an ultrasonic measurement for the heavy-fermion compound CeRhIn$_5$ to investigate the origin of the field-induced anisotropic phase in high magnetic fields. The transverse elastic constant $C_\mathrm{T} = (C_{11} - C_{12})/2$ and the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient $\alpha_\mathrm{T}$ show clear anomaly at $B^\star = 28.5$ T, which was discussed as the electronic nematic transition point. In addition, $C_\mathrm{T}$ exhibits acoustic de Haas-van Alphen oscillation below 28.5 T. These elastic anomalies around $B^\star$ indicate an electric quadrupole ordering of $O_{x^2-y^2}$ accompanied by $B_\mathrm{1g}$ crystal symmetry breaking and Fermi surface reconstruction due to the quadrupole-strain coupling, which results from itinerant $4f$ electrons and the $p$-$f$ hybridized state.