Magnetic, thermal and transport properties of Cd doped CeIn$_3$

TL;DR

This study explores how cadmium doping affects the magnetic, thermal, and transport properties of CeIn$_3$, revealing local disruption of antiferromagnetic order and insights into its quantum critical behavior.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of Cd doping on CeIn$_3$, especially regarding the suppression of antiferromagnetism and the nature of quantum criticality in this system.

Findings

Cd doping suppresses the Neel temperature more than Sn doping.

Cd locally disrupts AFM order without changing Ce valence.

Specific heat behavior suggests non-3D magnon excitations.

Abstract

We have investigated the effect of Cd substitution on the archetypal heavy fermion antiferromagnet CeIn$_3$ via magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and resistivity measurements. The suppression of the Neel temperature, T$_{N}$, with Cd doping is more pronounced than with Sn. Nevertheless, a doping induced quantum critical point does not appear to be achievable in this system. The magnetic entropy at $T_N$ and the temperature of the maximum in resistivity are also systematically suppressed with Cd, while the effective moment and the Curie-Weiss temperature in the paramagnetic state are not affected. These results suggest that Cd locally disrupts the AFM order on its neighboring Ce moments, without affecting the valence of Ce. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the specific heat below $T_N$ is not consistent with 3D magnons in pure as well as in Cd-doped CeIn$_3$, a point that has been missed in previous investigations of CeIn$_3$ and that has bearing on the type of quantum criticality in this system.