Crossover Phase Diagram and Electronic State in the Heavy-Fermion Metamagnets UIr2Zn20 and UCo2Zn20

Abstract

Crossover phase diagrams in the magnetic field versus temperature (H–T) plane of the nonmagnetic heavy-fermion metamagnets UT2Zn20 (T:Ir, Co) are studied by measuring the magnetic and electronic transport properties. The crossover phase diagrams of UIr2Zn20 and UCo2Zn20 are composed of a low-magnetic-field region (LFR) and a high-magnetic-field region (HFR), which are characterized by magnetic properties and the Hall effect, respectively. The LFR is found to form a closed area in the H–T plane, which is a quite different feature from the conventional uranium heavy-fermion compounds and the first observation in uranium compounds. From the drastic anomaly in the Hall effect at a metamagnetic field of UIr2Zn20, it is found that the metamagnetic behavior in UIr2Zn20 corresponds to a crossover from the heavy-fermion state to the field-induced ferromagnetic or polarized paramagnetic state accompanied by the reconstruction or topology change of Fermi surfaces. In UCo2Zn20, on the other hand, no sign of abrupt ch...