New Quantum Criticality Revealed under Pressure
arXiv:1701.02432 · doi:10.7567/JJAP.56.05FA01
Abstract
Unconventional quantum critical phenomena observed in Yb-based periodic crystals such as YbRh$_2$Si$_2$ and $β$-YbAlB$_4$ have been one of the central issues in strongly correlated electron systems. The common criticality has been discovered in quasicrystal Yb$_{15}$Au$_{51}$Al$_{34}$, which surprisingly persists under pressure at least up to $P=1.5$ GPa. The $T/H$ scaling where the magnetic susceptibility can be expressed as a single scaling function of the ratio of temperature $T$ and magnetic field $H$ has been discovered in the quasicrystal, which is essentially the same as that observed in $β$-YbAlB$_4$. Recently, the $T/H$ scaling as well as the common criticality has been also observed even in the approximant crystal Yb$_{14}$Au$_{51}$Al$_{35}$ under pressure. The theory of critical Yb-valence fluctuation gives a natural explanation for these striking phenomena in a unified way.
17 pages, 5 figures, Invited review paper in the 17th International Conference on High Pressure in Semiconductor Physics (HPSP-17) & Workshop on High-pressure Study on Superconducting (WHS)