High pressure transport study of non-Fermi liquid behaviour in U2Pt2In and U3Ni3Sn4

Abstract

The strongly correlated metals U2Pt2In and U3Ni3Sn4 show pronounced non-Fermi liquid (NFL) phenomena at ambient pressure. Here we review single-crystal electrical resistivity measurements under pressure (p <= 1.8 GPa) conducted to investigate the stability of the NFL phase. For tetragonal U2Pt2In (I||a) we observe a rapid recovery of the Fermi-liquid T^2-term with pressure. The Fermi-liquid temperature varies as T_FL ~ p-p_c, where p_c= 0 is a critical pressure. The analysis within the magnetotransport theory of Rosch provides evidence for the location of U2Pt2In at a zero pressure antiferromagnetic quantum critical point (QCP). In the case of cubic U3Ni3Sn4 we find T_FL ~ (p-p_c)^1/2. The analysis provides evidence for an antiferromagnetic QCP in U3Ni3Sn4 at a negative pressure p_c= -0.04+-0.04 GPa.

6 pages (4 figures); to appear in Proc. of Int. Conf. PPHMF-IV (20-25 Oct. 2001, Santa Fe)