Abstract
We carried out ultrasonic measurements on NdRu2Al10 single crystals in order to clarify what kind of phase transition occurs in this compound. The elastic moduli were measured as a function of temperature from 0.5 K to 150 K using the phase comparison-type pulse echo method. As the temperature is decreased from 150 K, longitudinal elastic modulus C11 and transverse elastic modulus C44 show a monotonic enhancement. With further decreasing temperature, both elastic moduli show abrupt hardening at 2.4 K and then show two-step softening at 1.3 K and 1.0 K. We found obvious hysteresis around both transitions at 1.3 K and 1.0 K in the temperature sweep, whereas no hysteresis was observed around the transition at 2.4 K within our experimental accuracy. The abrupt hardening at 2.4 K is very similar to that found in CeRu2Al10 and CeOs2Al10, suggesting that the transition at 2.4 K originates from the same mechanism of the transitions in CeRu2Al10 and CeOs2Al10. This is the first report that NdRu2Al10 undergoes the successive phase transitions.
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