Neutron Inelastic Scattering Study of the f-Electron States in NdPd5Al2

作者：Metoki Naoto^*; Yamauchi Hiroki; Suzuki Hiroyuki S; Kitazawa Hideaki; Kamazawa Kazuya; Ikeuchi Kazuhiko; Kajimoto Ryoichi; Nakamura Mitsutaka; Inamura Yasuhiro

来源：Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 2018, 87(8): 084708.

DOI：10.7566/JPSJ.87.084708

Inelastic neutron scattering experiments were carried out in order to study the f-electron states of NdPd5Al2. This is a Nd based isostructural compound of the heavy-fermion superconductor NpPd5Al2. The crystalline electric field (CEF) levels at 0, 35.4, 88.3, 101.5, and 198.8K were clarified from the excitation spectra. The Gamma(6) ground-state contains the orbital with J(z) = +/- 9/2 as the main component due to a large negative B-20 of -1.4 K. This is the origin of the strong uniaxial anisotropy in NdPd5Al2. The estimated magnetic moment of 2.81 mu(B) is in good agreement with the experimental value of 2.7 +/- 0.3 mu(B). The calculated susceptibility, magnetization curve, and specific heat are in good agreement with the experimental data. The obtained CEF parameters are consistent with the prediction from the point charge in CePd5Al2. The existence of a common effective electrostatic potential in RPd5Al2 supports our idea that a localized character is important even in actinide-based isostructural compounds as actually observed in UPd5Al2 and also NpPd5Al2, in which the valence crossover plays an important role in the heavy-fermion superconductivity.

• 出版日期2018-8-15