Abstract
The high-temperature structural phase transition in URe 2 is only moderately influenced by thorium impurities at low concentrations but disappears rapidly when the thorium content exceeds 25%. Replacing thorium in ThRe 2 by uranium reduces its critical temperature for the onset of superconductivity but much less drastically than do uranium impurities in metallic thorium. A comparison of the low-temperature specific heats of URe 2 and ThRe 2 indicates that the density of f-electron states at the Fermi energy E F in URe 2 is not large and that the f electrons in URe 2 behave similarly to d electrons in non-magnetic d transition metals.
Highlights
The recent discovery of various exciting low-temperature properties of uranium intermetallics has led to considerable general interest in the behaviour of metallic uranium compounds
As we mentioned in the Introduction it seems reasonable to assume that the low-temperature thermal properties of URe2 are dominated by the formation of a narrow band of electronic states, This seems more or less to be confirmed by the temperature-independent magnetic susceptibility of about low3 cm3 mol-I, a likely value for a Pauli susceptibility of a narrow band
URe, the Sf-electron states are itinerant in the latter. With decreasing temperature this narrow band of electron states becomes unstable with respect to a lattice distortion which subsequently results in the observed structural phase transition
Summary
The high-temperature structural phase transition in URe, is only moderately influenced by thorium impurities at low concentrations but disappears rapidly when the thorium content exceeds 25%. Replacing thorium in ThRe, by uranium reduces its critical temperature for the onset of superconductivity but much less drastically than do uranium impurities in metallic thorium. A comparison of the low-temperature specific heats of URe, and ThRe, indicates that the density of f-electron states at the Fermi energy EF in URe, is not large and that the f electrons in URe, behave to d electrons in non-magnetic d transition metals
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