Neutron Scattering Study on UTGa5and NpTGa5

Abstract

AbstractThe results of our recent neutron scattering studies on actinide ‘115’ compounds are reviewed. The itinerant many-bodyf-electronsystem and cross over to the localized character are realized only in actinide system. Actinide ‘115’ family is very interesting, because we can grow high quality single crystals of many iso-structural compounds with different number and character offelectrons and valencedelectrons. Variety of the ground state have been reported, e.g. paramagnetic, itinerant magnetism, and heavy fermion superconductivity in PuCoGa5. Very recently we have intensively studied the magnetic structure in UTGa5and NpTGa5, These compounds exhibit a variety of the magnetic structure with A-, C-, G-type antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic ordering and canted structure. NpFeGa5exhibits an unusual magnetic anisotropy with the direction of the magnetic moment inclined about 25 degrees from the tetragonal basal plane. On the other hand, the localized compounds RRhIn5 (R: Tb, Ho, Dy, Nd) shows the antiferromagnetic structure withq=(1/2 0 1/2). The magnetic moment is parallel to the c-axis. An identical magnetic structure in rare earth compounds is a consequence of the localized nature of 4felectrons. We found that NpFeGa5, NpNiGa5, and NpRhGa5exhibit 5felectronic transition between the low- and high-moment states associated with a change in the direction of the magnetic moment. The diverse magnetic ordering and the 5felectronic transition suggest that the orbital degree-of-freedom of itinerant 5felectrons may play important role for the physical properties in many bodyf-electron systems. Actually a localized model predicts the magnetic structure and the phase diagram with magnetic and quarupolar order parameters. A resonant X-ray scattering study is in progress, if the predicted antiferroquadrupole order coexists with the canting antiferromagnetic dipole order in NpNiGa5.