Strongly correlated electron system without free carrier Yb 4(As 1- xP x) 3

Abstract

Mixed valence compound Yb 4As 3 which shows the charge ordering of Yb 3+ and Yb 2+ around 300 K has been considered to be a heavy fermion system with extremely low carrier concentration. So the main interest in this system is to know whether the heavy fermion behavior surely comes from such low carrier concentration. To make this situation clear, single crystals of Yb 4(As 1- x P x ) 3 were grown and their transport properties, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat were measured. With increasing concentration of phosphor the system becomes semiconductive, however, the specific heat and magnetic susceptibility are almost the same as those of pure Yb 4As 3. This result shows that the large γ-value of Yb 4As 3 is not due to the mass enhancement as seen in usual heavy fermion systems but arises from another magnetic correlation.