- Jan Zubáč: Magnetic properties of NdPd5Al2
- 6. 1. 2016, 14:50
- lecture room F2, first floor Ke Karlovu 5
- more information
Abstract:
RPd5Al2 compounds (R is rare earth element or actinide) have aroused an interest of scientific community after the discovery of a paramagnetic unconventional heavy-fermion superconductor NpPd5Al2 (first Np SC; Tc = 4.9K, gamma = 200 mJ mol-1 K-2) by Aoki et al. in 2007 [1] followed by reporting of a pressure-induced superconductivity in a Kondo lattice antiferromagnet CePd5Al2[2]. These findings motivated further investigations of isostructural homologues. Nd-based materials, which are generally considered as the nearest magnetic analogues of cerium compounds, are predominantly governed by crystal-field effects and RKKY interactions and can provide useful information about the effect of these phenomena on properties of RPd5Al2 and related tetragonal compounds.
We have studied a single crystal of the intermetallic compound NdPd5Al2 by means of magnetization, specific heat and resistivity measurements. NdPd5Al2 orders antiferromagnetically below 1.3 K and exhibits a distinct magnetocrystalline anisotropy due to the crystal field with the c-axis as the easy axis of magnetization. Magnetic phase diagram constructed on the basis of heat capacity and magnetization measurements is characterized by two different low-temperature phases and first-order phase transition in the zero field. Recently, an inelastic neutron scattering experiment has been performed to examine the crystal field of NdPd5Al2 in detail.
The obtained results will be discussed in the context of related R2TX8 and RTX5 compounds.
[1] D. Aoki et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 76, 063701 (2007).