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Quantum criticality in the cubic heavy-fermion system CeIn3-xSnx

R. Kuechler, P. Gegenwart, J. Custers, O. Stockert, N. Caroca-Canales, C. Geibel, J. G. Sereni, F. Steglich

cond-mat.str-elarXiv:cond-mat/0606406

Abstract

We report a comprehensive study of CeIn3-xSnx (0.55 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) single crystals close to the antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum critical point (QCP) at xc≈ 0.67 by means of the low-temperature thermal expansion and Grüneisen parameter. This system represents the first example for a cubic heavy fermion (HF) in which T N can be suppressed continuously down to T=0. A characteristic sign change of the Grüneisen parameter between the AF and paramagnetic state indicates the accumulation of entropy close to the QCP. The observed quantum critical behavior is compatible with the predictions of the itinerant theory for three-dimensional critical spinfluctuations. This has important implications for the role of the dimensionality in HF QCPs.

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