Laboratoire Léon Brillouin

UMR12 CEA-CNRS, Bât. 563 CEA Saclay

91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France

+33-169085241 llb-sec@cea.fr

Let's scatter neutrons

Aug 24, 2017
Crystal-electric-field excitations and spin dynamics in Ce3Co4Sn13 semimetallic chiral-lattice phase
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Crystal-electric-field excitations and spin dynamics in Ce3Co4Sn13 semimetallic chiral-lattice phase

Enantiomer of Ce3Co4Sn13 chiral cubic
structure in low-temperature I' phase

Crystal-electric-field excitations and spin dynamics in Ce3Co4Sn13 semimetallic chiral-lattice phase
Kazuaki Iwasa, Yuka Otomo, Kazuya Suyama, Keisuke Tomiyasu, Seiko Ohira-Kawamura, Kenji Nakajima, and Jean-Michel Mignot

Inelastic neutron scattering experiments have been conducted to investigate the spin dynamics and crystal-electric-field level scheme of the Ce 4f electrons in Ce3Co4Sn13 . This compound exhibits a large specific heat at low temperatures and anomalous semimetallic transport in the chiral crystallographic phase below 160 K. Distinctly observed magnetic excitations at approximately 6 and 29 meV are asymmetric in spectral shape and are reproduced by two inequivalent crystal-electric-field splitting schemes, which are deduced from the chiral structure. We have also observed the spin dynamics reflecting antiferromagnetic correlations below 1 meV, which is enhanced with an upturn in the electrical resistivity below 15 K and which yields a low-energy density of state relevant to the large specific heat. We discuss the possibility of a three-dimensional Weyl semimetal state, considering the chiral-lattice symmetry, electronic hybridization, and magnetic correlation.

 
#2775 - Last update : 02/07 2018

 

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