Abstract
The electrical resistivity ρ and the specific heat C of Pr1−xLaxIr2Zn20 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) were measured to study the effect of La substitution in PrIr2Zn20 on the superconducting transition at Tc = 0.05 K and the antiferro-quadrupolar (AFQ) order at TQ = 0.11 K, which occur in a nonmagnetic Γ3 doublet ground state. For x = 0.04, a cusp in C(T) due to the AFQ order was observed at TQ = 0.07 K, while the cusp disappeared for x ≥ 0.09, indicating that the AFQ order rapidly collapses with the dilution of the Pr lattice. On the other hand, in the whole range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 1, the superconducting transition to zero resistance was observed. With increasing x, Tc hardly changes up to x = 0.47, above which Tc increases linearly with x. The results indicate a rather weak interplay between Tc and TQ. We have measured the magnetic field variation of Tc to determine the upper critical field of the superconducting state. The estimated effective mass m* for x = 0 is twice larger than that for x = 1, suggesting that moderately strong hybridization between 4f and conduction electrons stabilizes the superconducting state in PrIr2Zn20.
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