Single-crystal growth and physical property characterization of the intermediate-valence compound YbFe2Al10

Abstract

We report single crystal growth and physical properties characterization of YbFe 2 Al 10 compounds. The measurements of resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat show different behaviors from previous studies on polycrystal samples. An intermediate valent characteristic with moderate mass enhancement is indicated. In particular, the optical spectroscopy measurement reveals formation of multiple hybridization energy gaps which become progressively pronounced at low temperature. The multiple hybridization energy gaps are likely caused by the hybridizations between the flat band from Yb 4 f electrons and different bands of conduction electrons.

Revealing correlation effect of Co 3d electrons in La3Co4Sn13 and Ce3Co4Sn13 by infrared spectroscopy study

“…The measurements indicate the moderate enhancement of the carrier effective mass for La 3 Co 4 Sn 13 . We note that the value is also similar to that of some intermediate valence materials, such as YbAl 3 [34], YbFe 2 Al 10 [35] and Ce 3 Ru 4 Sn 13 [36]. However, for Ce 3 Co 4 Sn 13 , we can see a sharp upturn of the C P /T roughly below 3K, which is significantly different from La 3 Co 4 Sn 13 .…”