Cascade of Magnetic-Field-Induced Lifshitz Transitions in the Ferromagnetic Kondo Lattice Material YbNi_{4}P_{2}

A ferromagnetic quantum critical point is thought not to exist in two- and three-dimensional metallic systems yet is realized in the Kondo lattice compound YbNi_{4}(P,As)_{2}, possibly due to its one-dimensionality. It is crucial to investigate the dimensionality of the Fermi surface of YbNi_{4}P_{2} experimentally, but common probes such as angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum oscillation measurements are lacking. Here, we study the magnetic-field dependence of transport and thermodynamic properties of YbNi_{4}P_{2}. The Kondo effect is continuously suppressed, and additionally we identify nine Lifshitz transitions between 0.4 and 18 T. We analyze the transport coefficients in detail and identify the type of Lifshitz transitions as neck or void type to gain information on the Fermi surface of YbNi_{4}P_{2}. The large number of Lifshitz transitions observed within this small energy window is unprecedented and results from the particular flat renormalized band structure with strong 4f-electron character shaped by the Kondo lattice effect.

Intermediate magnetization state and competing orders in Dy2Ti2O7 and Ho2Ti2O7

Among the frustrated magnetic materials, spin-ice stands out as a particularly interesting system. Residual entropy, freezing and glassiness, Kasteleyn transitions and fractionalization of excitations in three dimensions all stem from a simple classical Hamiltonian. But is the usual spin-ice Hamiltonian a correct description of the experimental systems? Here we address this issue by measuring magnetic susceptibility in the two most studied spin-ice compounds, Dy₂Ti₂O₇ and Ho₂Ti₂O₇, using a vector magnet. Using these results, and guided by a theoretical analysis of possible distortions to the pyrochlore lattice, we construct an effective Hamiltonian and explore it using Monte Carlo simulations. We show how this Hamiltonian reproduces the experimental results, including the formation of a phase of intermediate polarization, and gives important information about the possible ground state of real spin-ice systems. Our work suggests an unusual situation in which distortions might contribute to the preservation rather than relief of the effects of frustration.

A classical Hamiltonian captures key properties of spin ice materials such as residual entropy and fractionalized excitations. Here, the authors present experimental results of the polarization transition that motivate a Hamiltonian with lattice distortions, which predicts an intermediate magnetization state and competing ground state orders.

Unusual weak magnetic exchange in two different structure types: YbPt2Sn and YbPt2In

We present the structural, magnetic, thermodynamic and transport properties of the two new compounds YbPt(2)Sn and YbPt(2)In. X-ray powder diffraction shows that they crystallize in different structure types, the hexagonal ZrPt(2)Al and the cubic Heusler type, respectively. Despite quite different lattice types, both compounds present very similar magnetic properties: a stable trivalent Yb(3+), no evidence for a sizeable Kondo interaction and very weak exchange interactions with a strength below 1 K as deduced from specific heat C(T). Broad anomalies in C(T) suggest short range magnetic ordering at about 250 mK and 180 mK for YbPt(2)Sn and YbPt(2)In, respectively. The weak exchange and the low ordering temperature result in a large magnetocaloric effect as deduced from the magnetic field dependence of C(T), making these compounds interesting candidates for magnetic cooling. In addition we found in YbPt(2)In evidences for a charge density wave transition at about 290 K. The occurrence of such transitions within several RET2X compound series (RE = rare earth, T = noble metal, X = In, Sn) is analyzed.

k=0 magnetic structure and absence of ferroelectricity in SmFeO3

SmFeO3 has attracted considerable attention very recently due to its reported multiferroic properties above room temperature. We have performed powder and single crystal neutron diffraction as well as complementary polarization dependent soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements on floating-zone grown SmFeO3 single crystals in order to determine its magnetic structure. We found a k=0 G-type collinear antiferromagnetic structure that is not compatible with inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction driven ferroelectricity. While the structural data reveal a clear sign for magneto-elastic coupling at the Néel-temperature of ∼675  K, the dielectric measurements remain silent as far as ferroelectricity is concerned.

Doped YbRh2Si2: not only ferromagnetic correlations but ferromagnetic order

YbRh2Si2 is a prototypical system for studying unconventional antiferromagnetic quantum criticality. However, ferromagnetic correlations are present which can be enhanced via isoelectronic cobalt substitution for rhodium in Yb(Rh(1-x)Co(x))2Si2. So far, the magnetic order with increasing x was believed to remain antiferromagnetic. Here, we present the discovery of ferromagnetism for x = 0.27 below T(C) = 1.30  K in single crystalline samples. Unexpectedly, ordering occurs along the c axis, the hard crystalline electric field direction, where the g factor is an order of magnitude smaller than in the basal plane. Although the spontaneous magnetization is only 0.1 μB/Yb it corresponds to the full expected saturation moment along c taking into account partial Kondo screening.

Avoided ferromagnetic quantum critical point: unusual short-range ordered state in CeFePO

Cerium 4f electronic spin dynamics in single crystals of the heavy-fermion system CeFePO is studied by means of ac susceptibility, specific heat, and muon-spin relaxation (μSR). Short-range static magnetism occurs below the freezing temperature T(g) ≈ 0.7 K, which prevents the system from accessing a putative ferromagnetic quantum critical point. In the μSR, the sample-averaged muon asymmetry function is dominated by strongly inhomogeneous spin fluctuations below 10 K and exhibits a characteristic time-field scaling relation expected from glassy spin dynamics, strongly evidencing cooperative and critical spin fluctuations. The overall behavior can be ascribed neither to canonical spin glasses nor other disorder-driven mechanisms.