Field-dependent ordered phases and Kondo phenomena in the filled skutterudite compound PrOs4As12

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 May 2;103(18):6783-9. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0601541103. Epub 2006 Apr 21.

Abstract

Electrical resistivity, specific heat, and magnetization measurements to temperatures as low as 80 mK and magnetic fields up to 16 T were made on the filled skutterudite compound PrOs4As12. The measurements reveal the presence of two ordered phases at temperatures below approximately 2.3 K and in fields below approximately 3 T. Neutron-scattering experiments in zero field establish an antiferromagnetic ground state < 2.28 K. In the antiferromagnetically ordered state, the electronic-specific heat coefficient gamma approximately 1 J/mol x K2 below 1.6 K and 0 < or = H < or = 1.25 T. The temperature and magnetic-field dependence of the electrical resistivity and specific heat in the paramagnetic state are consistent with single-ion Kondo behavior with a low Kondo temperature on the order of 1 K. The electronic-specific heat in the paramagnetic state can be described by the resonance-level model with a large zero-temperature electronic-specific heat coefficient that decreases with increasing magnetic field from approximately 1 J/mol x K2 at 3 T to approximately 0.2 J/mol x K2 at 16 T.