Quantum phase transitions in CePdAl probed by ultrasonic and thermoelectric measurements

Abstract

CePdAl has been recently recognized as a frustrated antiferromagnetic heavy-fermion compound with a pressure- or field-tuned, extended quantum critical phase at zero temperature. Identifying characteristic signatures of the emerging quantum critical phase, which are expected to be distinct from those near a quantum critical point, remains challenging. In this work, by performing ultrasonic and thermoelectric measurements down to very low temperatures in a 3He–4He dilution refrigerator in the presence of magnetic field, we are able to obtain some crucial thermodynamic and thermal transport features of the quantum critical phase, including a frustration-related elastic softening detected by ultrasound and a Fermi-surface change probed by thermoelectric effect.