First neutron studies of the magnetism and rattling modes in CePt4Ge12

Rose-Marie Galéra (1) , Christine Opagiste (1) , Mehdi Amara (1) , Mohamed Zbiri (2) , Stéphane Rols (2)

1 NEEL - MagSup - Magnétisme et Supraconductivité
2 ILL - Institut Laue-Langevin

The filled skutterudite CePt4Ge12 is reported to be at the border between an intermediate valence (IV) state and a Kondo lattice behavior. We report here the first inelastic neutron scattering experiments, carried out on the Ce compound and its non-magnetic counterpart LaPt4Ge12. Prior the neutron studies, the structural and magnetic properties of both samples have been determined. Inelastic neutron scattering spectra are dominated by phonon contribution for both compounds. A rattling vibration mode is observed at 6.9 meV and 7.5 meV for the Ce and La compounds, respectively. In CePt4Ge12 no crystal field excitation could be resolved. Only a small and wide extra contribution at high energy (22-28 meV) is observed. This result would be more consistent with an IV behavior.

Mots clés: Inelastic Neutron Scattering INS; Skutterudite; intermediate valence; Rattling phonon

Domaines: Electrons fortement corrélés [cond-mat.str-el]

Rose-Marie Galéra, Christine Opagiste, Mehdi Amara, Mohamed Zbiri, Stéphane Rols. First neutron studies of the magnetism and rattling modes in CePt4Ge12. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2015, 592, pp.012011. ⟨10.1088/1742-6596/592/1/012011⟩. ⟨hal-01141311⟩