Biomedical subjects

J A Mydosh

Publications and source records attributed to J A Mydosh.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Phonon thermal transport of URu2Si2: broken translational symmetry and strong-coupling of the "hidden order" to the lattice.

A dramatic increase in the total thermal conductivity (kappa) is observed in the hidden order (HO) state of single crystal URu2Si2. Through measurements of the thermal Hall conductivity, we explicitly show that the electronic contribution to kappa is extremely small, so that this large increase in kappa is dominated by phonon conduction. An itinerant BCS or mean-field model describes this behavior well: the increase in kappa is associated with the opening of a large energy gap at the Fermi surface, thereby decreasing electron-phonon scattering. Our analysis implies that the "hidden order" parameter is strongly coupled to the lattice, suggestive of a broken symmetry involving charge degrees of freedom.

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PubMed2006

Irreversible dynamics of the phase boundary in U(Ru0.96Rh0.04)2Si2 and implications for ordering.

We report measurements and analysis of the specific heat and magnetocaloric effect-induced temperature changes at the phase boundary into the single magnetic field-induced phase (phase II) of U(Ru0.96Rh0.04)2Si2, which yield irreversible properties similar to those at the valence transition of Yb(1-x)Y(x)InCu4. To explain these similarities, we propose a bootstrap mechanism by which lattice parameter changes caused by an electric quadrupolar order parameter within phase II become coupled to the 5f-electron hybridization, giving rise to a valence change at the transition.

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PubMed2006

Optical pseudogap from iron states in filled skutterudites AFe4Sb12 (A=Yb, Ca, Ba).

Optical investigations are presented of the filled skutterudites AFe4Sb12 with divalent cations A=Yb, Ca, Ba. For each of these compounds a very similar pseudogap structure in the optical conductivity develops in the far-infrared spectral region at temperatures below 90 K. Highly accurate local-density approximation electronic band structure calculations can consistently explain the origin of the pseudogap structure generated largely by transition metal 3d states. In particular, a 4f-conduction electron hybridization or strong correlations can be ruled out as origin for the pseudogap.

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PubMed2005

Complete elastic tensor through the first-order transformation in U2Rh3Si5.

The complete elastic tensor of U(2)Rh(3)Si(5) has been determined over the temperature range of 5-300 K, including the dramatic first-order transition to an antiferromagnetic state at 25.5 K. Sharp upward steps in the elastic moduli as the temperature is decreased through the transition reveal the first-order nature of the phase change. In the antiferromagnetic state the temperature dependence of the elastic moduli scales with the square of the ordered moment on the uranium ion, demonstrating strong spin-lattice coupling. The temperature dependence of the moduli well above the transition indicates coupling of the ultrasonic waves to the crystal electric field levels of the uranium ion where the lowest state is a singlet. The elastic constant data suggest that the first-order phase change is magnetically driven by a bootstrap mechanism involving the ground state singlet and a magnetically active crystal electric field level.

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PubMed2005

Quantum critical 5f electrons avoid singularities in U(Ru,Rh)2Si2.

We present specific heat measurements of 4% Rh-doped URu2Si2 at magnetic fields around the proposed metamagnetic transition field H(m) approximately 34 T, revealing striking similarities to the isotructural Ce analog CeRu2Si2 for H>H(m). This suggests that strongly renormalized hybridized-band models apply equally well to both systems. The vanishing bandwidths as H-->H(m) are consistent with a quantum-critical point close to H(m). The existence of a phase transition into an ordered phase in the vicinity of H(m) for 4% Rh-doped URu2Si2, but not for CeRu2Si2, is consistent with a stronger superexchange in the case of the U 5f system. Irreversible processes at the transition indicate a strong coupling of the 5f orbitals to the lattice, most suggestive of electric quadrupolar order.

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PubMed2004

Metallic ground state and glassy transport in single crystalline URh2Ge2: enhancement of disorder effects in a strongly correlated electron system.

We present a detailed study of the electronic transport properties on a single crystalline specimen of the moderately disordered heavy-fermion system URh2Ge2. For this material, we find glassy electronic transport in a single crystalline compound. We derive the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity and establish metallicity by means of optical conductivity and Hall effect measurements. The overall behavior of the electronic transport properties closely resembles that of metallic glasses, with at low temperatures an additional minor spin disorder contribution. We argue that this glassy electronic behavior in a crystalline compound reflects the enhancement of disorder effects as a consequence of strong electronic correlations.

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PubMed2004

Nexus between quantum criticality and phase formation in U(Ru1-xRhx)2Si2.

Simplification of the magnetic field-versus-temperature phase diagram and quantum criticality in URu2Si2 dilutely doped with Rh are studied by measuring the magnetization and resistivity in magnetic fields of up to 45 T. For x=4%, the hidden order is completely destroyed, leaving a single field-induced phase II. A correlation between the field dependence of this phase and that of the quantum critical point, combined with the suppression of the T2 coefficient of the resistivity within it, implicates field-tuned quantum criticality as an important factor in phase formation.

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PubMed2003

Magnetic-field-induced quantum critical point and competing order parameters in URu2Si2.

A comprehensive transport study, as a function of temperature and continuous magnetic fields of up to 45 T, reveals that URu2Si2 possesses all the essential hallmarks of quantum criticality at fields around 37+/-1 T. The formation of multiple phases at low temperatures at and around the quantum critical point suggests the existence of competing order parameters.

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PubMed2003

Extended versus local fluctuations in quantum critical Ce(Ru1-xFex)2Ge2 (x=xc=0.76).

We present inelastic neutron scattering experiments, performed near the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point in Ce(Ru0.24Fe0.76)2Ge2. Both local and long-range fluctuations of the local moments are observed, but due to the Kondo effect only the latter are critical. We propose a phenomenological expression which fits the energy E, temperature T, and wave vector q dependences of the dynamic susceptibility, describing the non-Fermi liquid E/T scaling found at every q.

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PubMed2003

Divergence of the grüneisen ratio at quantum critical points in heavy fermion metals.

We present low-temperature volume thermal expansion, beta, and specific heat, C, measurements on high-quality single crystals of CeNi2Ge2 and YbRh2(Si0.95Ge0.05)(2) which are located very near to quantum critical points. For both systems, beta shows a more singular temperature dependence than C, and thus the Grüneisen ratio Gamma proportional to beta/C diverges as T-->0. For CeNi2Ge2, our results are in accordance with the spin-density wave (SDW) scenario for three-dimensional critical spin fluctuations. By contrast, the observed singularity in YbRh2(Si0.95Ge0.05)(2) cannot be explained by the itinerant SDW theory but is qualitatively consistent with a locally quantum critical picture.

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PubMed2003

Ferromagnetic ordering in alkali-metal iron antimonides: NaFe4Sb12 and KFe4Sb12.

New alkali-metal compounds with the filled-skutterudite structure were synthesized and their chemical and physical properties investigated. X-ray diffraction, microprobe, and chemical analysis established the structure and the composition without defects on the cation site. Magnetization, ac susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity, and NMR or NQR demonstrated NaFe4Sb12 to be ferromagnetic below approximately 85 K and to exhibit an additional magnetic anomaly around 40 K. Band structure calculations find a large density of states at the Fermi energy and a ferromagnetic ground state. Similar behavior was observed for KFe4Sb12.

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PubMed2003

Reentrant hidden order at a metamagnetic quantum critical end point.

Magnetization measurements of URu2Si2 in pulsed magnetic fields of 44 T reveal that the hidden order phase is destroyed before appearing in the form of a reentrant phase between approximately 36 and 39 T. Evidence for conventional itinerant electron metamagnetism at higher temperatures suggests that the reentrant phase is created in the vicinity of a quantum critical end point.

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PubMed2002

High magnetic field studies of the hidden order transition in URu2Si2.

We studied in detail the low temperature/high magnetic field phases of URu2Si2 single crystals with specific heat, magnetocaloric effect, and magnetoresistance in magnetic fields up to 45 T. Data obtained down to 0.5 K, and extrapolated to T=0, show a suppression of the hidden-order phase at H0(0)=35.9+/-0.35 T and the appearance of a new phase for magnetic fields in excess of H1(0)=36.1+/-0.35 T observed only at temperatures lower than 6 K. In turn, complete suppression of this high field state is attained at a critical magnetic field H2(0)=39.7+/-0.35 T. No phase transitions are observed above 40 T. We discuss our results in the context of itinerant versus localized f electrons.

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PubMed2002

Hidden orbital order in the heavy fermion metal URu(2)Si(2).

When matter is cooled from high temperatures, collective instabilities develop among its constituent particles that lead to new kinds of order. An anomaly in the specific heat is a classic signature of this phenomenon. Usually the associated order is easily identified, but sometimes its nature remains elusive. The heavy fermion metal URu(2)Si(2) is one such example, where the order responsible for the sharp specific heat anomaly at T(0) = 17 K has remained unidentified despite more than seventeen years of effort. In URu(2)Si(2), the coexistence of large electron electron repulsion and antiferromagnetic fluctuations leads to an almost incompressible heavy electron fluid, where anisotropically paired quasiparticle states are energetically favoured. Here we develop a proposal for the nature of the hidden order in URu(2)Si(2). We show that incommensurate orbital antiferromagnetism, associated with circulating currents between the uranium ions, can account for the local fields and entropy loss observed at the 17 K transition. We make detailed predictions for the outcome of neutron scattering measurements based on this proposal, so that it can be tested experimentally.

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PubMed2001

29Si NMR and hidden order in URu2Si2.

Below T(N) approximately 17 K the 29Si NMR line in URu2Si2 exhibits a previously unobserved field-independent nearly isotropic contribution to the linewidth, which increases to approximately 12 G as T-->0. We argue that this feature does not arise from static freezing of the U-spin magnetization, but is due to coupling between 29Si spins and a hidden order parameter. We discuss time-reversal symmetry-breaking orbital antiferromagnetism and indirect nuclear spin-spin interactions as possible coupling mechanisms. Further NMR experiments and theoretical calculations are suggested.

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