Using Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations measured in URu2Si2 over a broad range in a magnetic field of 11-45 T, we find a cascade of field-induced Fermi surface changes within the hidden order phase I and further signatures of oscillations within field-induced phases III and V [previously discovered by Kim et al., [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 256401 (2003)]. A comparison of kinetic and Zeeman energies indicates a pocket-by-pocket polarization of the Fermi surface leading up to the destruction of the hidden order phase I at ≈35  T. The anisotropy of the Zeeman energy driving the transitions in URu2Si2 points to an itinerant hidden order parameter involving quasiparticles whose spin degrees of freedom depart significantly from those of free electrons.

Recent experimental and theoretical interest in the superconducting phase of the heavy fermion material URu2Si2 has led to a number of proposals in which the superconducting order parameter breaks time-reversal symmetry (TRS). In this study we measured polar Kerr effect (PKE) as a function of temperature for several high-quality single crystals of URu2Si2. We find an onset of PKE below the superconducting transition that is consistent with a TRS-breaking order parameter. This effect appears to be independent of an additional, possibly extrinsic, PKE generated above the hidden order transition at THO = 17.5 K, and contains structure below Tc suggestive of additional physics within the superconducting state.

The nature of the second order phase transition that occurs in URu 2 Si 2 at 17.5 K remains puzzling despite intensive research over the past two and half decades. A key question emerging in the field is whether a hybridization gap between the renormalized bands can be identified as the long-sought 'hidden' order parameter. We report on the measurement of a hybridization gap in URu 2 Si 2 employing a spectroscopic technique based on quasiparticle scattering across a ballistic metallic junction. The differential conductance exhibits an asymmetric double-peak structure, a clear signature for a Fano resonance in a Kondo lattice. The extracted hybridization gap opens well above the transition temperature, indicating that it is not the hidden order parameter. Our results put stringent constraints on the origin of the hidden order transition in URu 2 Si 2 and demonstrate that quasiparticle scattering spectroscopy can probe the band renormalizations in a Kondo lattice via detection of a novel type of Fano resonance.

Uranium and plutonium's 5f electrons are tenuously poised between strongly bonding with ligand spd-states and residing close to the nucleus. The unusual properties of these elements and their compounds (e.g., the six different allotropes of elemental plutonium) are widely believed to depend on the related attributes of f-orbital occupancy and delocalization for which a quantitative measure is lacking. By employing resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy and making comparisons to specific heat measurements, we demonstrate the presence of multiconfigurational f-orbital states in the actinide elements U and Pu and in a wide range of uranium and plutonium intermetallic compounds. These results provide a robust experimental basis for a new framework toward understanding the strongly-correlated behavior of actinide materials.

A series of new rare-earth indium-germanides RE 2 InGe 2 (RE ) Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Yb) have been prepared from the corresponding elements through high-temperature reactions using an excess of indium as flux. Single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction studies showed that these ternary phases crystallize in the tetragonal space group P4/mbm, Z ) 2, Pearson's symbol tP10, and represent new members of the Mo 2 FeB 2 family (an ordered ternary variant of the U 3 Si 2 structure type). The temperature dependence of the dc magnetization (5-300 K) indicates that the RE 2 InGe 2 (RE ) Sm-Ho) compounds order magnetically below ca. 60 K, whereas Yb 2 InGe 2 exhibits Pauli-like temperature-independent paramagnetism. Isothermal magnetization, electrical resistivity, and calorimetry measurements are presented as well and confirm the existence of ordered antiferromagnetic states at low temperatures. The structural trends and the evolution of the magnetic properties are also discussed.

We report magnetic field orientation-dependent measurements of the superconducting upper critical field in high quality single crystals of URu(2)Si(2) and find the effective g factor estimated from the Pauli limit to agree remarkably well with that found in quantum oscillation experiments, both quantitatively and in the extreme anisotropy (≈10(3)) of the spin susceptibility. Rather than a strictly itinerant or purely local f-electron picture being applicable, the latter suggests the quasiparticles subject to pairing in URu(2)Si(2) to be "composite heavy fermions" formed from bound states between conduction electrons and local moments with a protected Ising behavior. Non-Kramers doublet local magnetic degrees of freedom suggested by the extreme anisotropy favor a local pairing mechanism.

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