Yb$_3$Pt$_4$: A New Route to Quantum Criticality

TL;DR

This study investigates the suppression of antiferromagnetic order in Yb$_3$Pt$_4$ under magnetic fields, revealing a quantum critical point where quasiparticle mass remains finite, differing from typical quantum critical systems.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed experimental analysis of a quantum critical point in Yb$_3$Pt$_4$, showing a transition driven by quasiparticle interactions without divergence in mass.

Findings

Magnetic fields suppress the Neel temperature and transition entropy.

A quantum critical point occurs at 1.62 T with non-diverging quasiparticle mass.

Ordered and paramagnetic states are Fermi liquids at low temperature.

Abstract

We have studied the evolution of the weakly first order antiferromagnetic transition in heavy fermion Yb$_3$Pt$_4$ using a combination of specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, and electrical resistivity experiments. We show that magnetic fields suppress the Neel temperature, as well as the specific heat jump, the latent heat, and the entropy of the transition, driving a critical endpoint at 1.2 K and 1.5 T. At higher fields, the antiferromagnetic transition becomes second order, and this line of transitions in turn terminates at a quantum critical point at 1.62 T. Both the ordered and high field paramagnetic states are Fermi liquids at low temperature, although the former has a much larger magnetic susceptibility and stronger quasiparticle scattering. Unlike previously studied quantum critical systems, the quasiparticle mass in Yb$_3$Pt$_4$ does not diverge at the quantum critical point, implying that here the quasiparticle interactions drive the zero temperature transition. The Fermi liquid parameters are nearly field-independent in the ordered state, indicating that the fluctuations never become fully critical, as their divergences are interrupted by the first order antiferromagnetic transition.