Spin fluctuations in metals: Application to the actinides

Abstract

Abstract We present here a review of the spin fluctuation theory and of its applications to transition and actinide systems, with a particular emphasis to the latter where some very anomalous properties find an explanation in terms of spin fluctuation effects. Firstly, we summarize the development of the spin fluctuation model which had been initially applied to transition metals and alloys such as palladium or Pd–Ni alloys. Then, we present the extension of the paramagnon model to nearly magnetic actinide systems by taking into account explicitly the temperature dependence of the Stoner susceptibility, because the 5f-band of actinides is much narrower than the d-band of transition metals. As a result the paramagnon contribution to the resistivity departs from the usual T 2 and T power laws at temperatures higher than the spin fluctuation one and saturates at high temperatures, with eventually the presence of a maximum at intermediate temperatures. We present also the calculation of the other properties of actinide systems, namely the thermal resistivity, the thermoelectric power, the magnetic susceptibility, the specific heat capacity and the NMR relaxation rate, which are generally enhanced by the presence of paramagnons. Finally, we have introduced the concept of ‘antiferromagnetic-like’ spin fluctuations which have a maximum of the q-dependent susceptibility χ(q) at a q value different from q =0, in contrast to the regular ferromagnetic spin fluctuations; both types of spin fluctuation give the same resistivity behaviour, while they yield a markedly different behaviour of the magnetic susceptibility, in agreement with experiment. The spin fluctuation theory is applied successfully to the different properties of neptunium and plutonium metals and of many nearly magnetic compounds such as UAl2.