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Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 227202 (2003) [4 pages]

Low-Frequency Spin Dynamics in the CeMIn5 Materials

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N. J. Curro, J. L. Sarrao, and J. D. Thompson
Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

P. G. Pagliuso
Instituto de Física “Gleb Wataghin,” UNICAMP, 13083-970, Campinas-SP, Brazil

Š. Kos, Ar. Abanov, and D. Pines
Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

Received 12 April 2002; revised 28 December 2002; published 3 June 2003

We measure the spin lattice relaxation of the planar In(1) nuclei in the CeMIn5 materials, extract quantitative information about the low energy spin dynamics of the lattice of Ce moments in both CeRhIn5 and CeCoIn5, and identify a crossover in the normal state. Above a temperature T* the Ce lattice exhibits “Kondo gas” behavior characterized by local fluctuations of independently screened moments; below T* both systems exhibit a “Kondo liquid” regime in which interactions between the local moments contribute to the spin dynamics. Both the antiferromagnetic and superconducting ground states in these systems emerge from the Kondo liquid regime. Our analysis provides strong evidence for quantum criticality in CeCoIn5.


©2003 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.227202
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.227202
PACS: 75.25.+z, 71.27.+a, 75.20.–g, 76.60.–k

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