Anomalous pressure dependences of the superconducting transition temperature of dilute alloys of LaSn3 containing light rare earth impurities

Abstract

The pressure dependences of the crystalline electric field (CEF) splittings and certain physical properties ascribed to the scattering of conduction electrons by localized magnetic and nonmagnetic states in several rare earth (RE) systems have been found difficult to reconcile with existing theories. Studies of the interesting case of the magnetic behavior of isolated RE ions in a metallic environment are often hampered by a lack of experimental sensitivity when the RE impurity concentration is sufficiently lowered to avoid inter-impurity interaction effects. However, if a suitable superconducting host can be found, information regarding the magnetic State of such impurities in high dilution is easily extracted from measurements of the concentration dependence of the superconducting transition temperature Tc.