Quest for the Origin of Heavy Fermion Behavior in $d$-Electron Systems

TL;DR

This paper reviews muon spin relaxation studies revealing that spin fluctuation rates in certain $d$-electron heavy-fermion compounds depend linearly on temperature, indicating the importance of geometrical frustration and $t_{2g}$ bands in their behavior.

Contribution

It demonstrates that spin fluctuation rates in $d$-electron systems develop linearly with temperature, highlighting the role of geometrical frustration and $t_{2g}$ bands in heavy-fermion behavior.

Findings

Spin relaxation rate levels off below a characteristic temperature.

Spin fluctuation rate becomes proportional to temperature.

Heavy quasiparticles develop with a density of states inversely proportional to temperature.

Abstract

Spin fluctuation is presumed to be one of the key properties in understanding the microscopic origin of heavy-fermion-like behavior in the class of transition-metal compounds, including LiV$_2$O$_4$, Y(Sc)Mn$_2$, and YMn$_2$Zn$_{20}$. In this review, we demonstrate by our recent study of muon spin rotation/relaxation that the temperature ($T$) dependence of the longitudinal spin relaxation rate ($\lambda\equiv 1/T_1$) in these compounds exhibits a common trend of leveling off to a constant value ($\lambda\sim const$.) below a characteristic temperature, $T^*$. This is in marked contrast to the behavior predicted for normal metals from the Korringa relation, $\lambda\propto T/\nu$, where the spin fluctuation rate ($\nu$) in the Pauli paramagnetic state is given as a constant, $\nu\simeq 1/[h D(E_F)]$ [with $D(E_F)$ being the density of states at the Fermi energy]. Thus, the observed behavior of $\lambda$ implies that the spin fluctuation rate becomes linearly dependent on temperature, $\nu\propto T$, suggesting that heavy quasiparticles develop in a manner satisfying $D(E_F)\propto (m^*)^{\sigma}\propto 1/T$ at lower temperatures ($\sigma$ determined by the electronic dispersion). Considering that the theory of spin correlation for intersecting Hubbard chains as a model of pyrochlore lattice predicts $\nu\propto T$, our finding strongly indicates the crucial role of $t_{2g}$ bands which preserve the one-dimensional character at low energies due to the geometrical frustration specific to the undistorted pyrochlore lattice.