A robust but disordered collapsed-volume phase in a cerium alloy under the application of pulsed magnetic fields

TL;DR

This study uses synchrotron x-ray diffraction to demonstrate that the collapsed-volume phase in Ce0.8La0.1Th0.1 alloy remains stable under pulsed magnetic fields up to 28 Tesla, revealing nanoscale disorder and challenging previous suppression claims.

Contribution

It provides direct diffraction evidence that the collapsed phase in the alloy is robust against high magnetic fields, and uncovers nanoscale disorder in the phase.

Findings

Collapsed phase persists up to 28 Tesla

Nanoscale disorder increases with thermal cycling

Magnetic fields do not suppress the volume collapse

Abstract

We report synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction measurements of Ce0.8La0.1Th0.1 subject to pulsed magnetic fields as high as 28 Tesla. This alloy is known to exhibit a continuous volume collapse on cooling at ambient pressure, which is a modification of the gamma -> alpha transition in elemental cerium. Recently, it has been suggested on the basis of field-cooled resistivity and pulsed field magnetization measurements that the volume collapse in this alloy can be suppressed by the application of magnetic fields. Conversely, our direct diffraction measurements show a robust collapsed phase, which persists in magnetic fields as high as 28 Tesla. We also observe nanoscale disorder in the collapsed phase, which increasingly contaminates the high temperature phase on thermal cycling.