Electronuclear Transition into a Spatially Modulated Magnetic State in YbRh_{2}Si_{2}

The nature of the antiferromagnetic order in the heavy fermion metal YbRh_{2}Si_{2}, its quantum criticality, and superconductivity, which appears at low mK temperatures, remain open questions. We report measurements of the heat capacity over the wide temperature range 180  μK-80  mK, using current sensing noise thermometry. In zero magnetic field we observe a remarkably sharp heat capacity anomaly at 1.5 mK, which we identify as an electronuclear transition into a state with spatially modulated electronic magnetic order of maximum amplitude 0.1  μ_{B}. We also report results of measurements in magnetic fields in the range 0 to 70 mT, applied perpendicular to the c axis, which show eventual suppression of this order. These results demonstrate a coexistence of a large moment antiferromagnet with putative superconductivity.

On the 'Supersolid' Response of the Second Layer of 4 He on Graphite

Recent torsional oscillator measurements on the second layer of4 He adsorbed on graphite have identified an anomalous superfluid response over a coverage range near third-layer promotion, with four distinct coverage regimes. Here, we present details of the superfluid response in the coverage regime immediately below third-layer promotion. A scaling analysis of the inferred superfluid fraction shows the characteristic temperature governing the superfluid response to decrease, approaching zero near the coverage at which simulations predict the second layer to form a conventional incommensurate solid.

NMR signature of one-dimensional behavior of 3He in nanopores

We have performed thermodynamic and NMR relaxation time measurements of 3He adsorbed in the pores of the mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41 at temperatures down to 1.7 K and at a range of frequencies up to 240 kHz. The MCM-41 substrate comprises a uniform array of quasi-1D straight pores with a diameter of 2.3 nm. We preplated the pores with a monolayer of 4He to achieve an effective diameter of 1.6 nm at low temperatures. We made NMR measurements as a function of line density and frequency to investigate the spin dynamics and the effect of dimensionality. We observed T(1) is proportional to ω1/2, which is characteristic of one-dimensional diffusion. At these temperatures this arises from a classical size effect in the narrow pores. Our results demonstrate the possibility to study the spin dynamics of a 1D Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid at lower temperatures, where the 3He liquid will constitute a quantum 1D system.

Spear-anvil point-contact spectroscopy in pulsed magnetic fields

We describe a new design and experimental technique for point-contact spectroscopy in non-destructive pulsed magnetic fields up to 70 T. Point-contact spectroscopy uses a quasi-dc four-point measurement of the current and voltage across a spear-anvil point-contact. The contact resistance could be adjusted over three orders of magnitude by a built-in fine pitch threaded screw. The first measurements using this set-up were performed on both single-crystalline and exfoliated graphite samples in a 150 ms, pulse length 70 T coil at 4.2 K and reproduced the well known point-contact spectrum of graphite and showed evidence for a developing high field excitation above 35 T, the onset field of the charge-density wave instability in graphite.

Evidence for a Mott-Hubbard transition in a two-dimensional 3He fluid monolayer

The heat capacity and magnetization of a fluid 3He monolayer adsorbed on graphite plated with a bilayer of HD have been measured in the temperature range 1-60 mK. Approaching the density at which the monolayer solidifies into a sqrt[7]xsqrt[7] commensurate solid, we observe an apparent divergence of the effective mass and magnetization corresponding to a T=0 Mott-Hubbard transition between a 2D Fermi liquid and a magnetically disordered solid. The observations are consistent with the Brinkman-Rice-Anderson-Vollhardt scenario for a metal-insulator transition. We observe a leading order T2 correction to the linear term in heat capacity.