Enriched Uranium – The Heavy Fermion Antiferromagnet UAu<sub>2</sub>

Condensed Matter lunchtime seminar

Enriched Uranium – The Heavy Fermion Antiferromagnet UAu<sub>2</sub>

  • Event time: 1:00pm
  • Event date: 11th February 2013
  • Speaker: Julian Schmehr (Formerly School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)
  • Location: Room 2511,

Event details

Uranium intermetallics have proven a fruitful hunting ground for quantum critical behaviour. UAu2 is a little-studied heavy fermion compound with unusual resistivity behaviour, which combined with a series of interesting features in magnetisation and heat capacity, make it an extremely interesting material to study. We have successfully synthesised the first single crystals of this material using the Czochralski process. In measurements of magnetisation and resistivity we have found UAu2 to undergo a transition to an as yet unidentified antiferromagnetic state below 43.5K, but interestingly then to develop weak ferromagnetism below ~20K. Weak ferromagnetism is known to arise in materials from the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. For the case of UAu2 the crystal symmetry rules out such an interaction in the paramagnetic state, though the antiferromagnetic order may lower symmetry sufficiently to induce this interaction at lower temperatures.

About Condensed Matter lunchtime seminars

This is a weekly series of informal talks given primarily by members of the institute of condensed matter and complex systems, but is also open to members of other groups and external visitors. The aim of the series is to promote discussion and learning of various topics at a level suitable to the broad background of the group. Everyone is welcome to attend..

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