Abstract
The quadrupole moment of the 4f shell is a sensitive probe of the ground state and the low-energy excitations in heavy-fermion compounds. Its temperature dependence reflects the variation of the partial occupancies nf{hook}Jm(T) of the f-level split by a non-cubic crystalline electric field (CEF). A careful analysis of the quadrupole splitting therefore provides important information comparable to that obtained from the "classical" experiments such as the magnetic susceptibility, the LIII X-ray absorption data etc. The temperature dependent quadrupole moment Q(T) is calculated starting from the Anderson model of a rare earth impurity in the presence of a non-cubic CEF. The partial occupancies nf{hook}Jm(T) are evaluated from a simple ansatz which is valid at low temperature and can be deduced from the non-crossing approximation. Comparison of the calculations with recent Mössbauer measurements on YbCu2Si2 permits an identification of the characteristic parameters of this compound such as the characteristic low-temperature energy scale T0, the CEF splitting etc.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 475-477 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials |
Volume | 76-77 |
Issue number | C |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2 Dec 1988 |
Externally published | Yes |