De Haas–van Alphen Effect and Fermi Surface Properties in High-Quality Single Crystals YbCu2Si2 and YbCu2Ge2

Abstract

We succeeded in growing high-quality single crystals of a valence fluctuating compound YbCu 2 Si 2 and a divalent compound YbCu 2 Ge 2 . The magnetic susceptibility of YbCu 2 Si 2 follows the Curie–Weiss law with Yb 3+ at high temperatures, but reveals a broad peak around 40 K for H ∥[100], which is due to the formation of a 4 f -itinerant heavy fermion state at lower temperatures. This is also reflected in the temperature dependence of Hall coefficient, thermoelectric power and thermal expansion. The corresponding de Haas–van Alphen (dHvA) branches are approximately explained by the 4 f -itinerant LDA band model, and the 4 f -itinerant LDA+ U model is found to be much applicable to the dHvA data. The cyclotron effective masses of main Fermi surfaces are relatively large, being 30–40 m 0 , which is consistent with the electronic specific heat coefficient γ=150 mJ/(K 2 ·mol). These results indicate that the localized 4 f electrons at high temperatures become itinerant at low temperatures, forming a narrow ...