Single-Site Non-Fermi Liquid Behaviors in a Diluted 4$f^2$ System Y$_{1-x}$Pr$_x$Ir$_2$Zn$_{20}$

TL;DR

This study investigates non-Fermi liquid behaviors in a diluted 4f^2 system, revealing that the resistivity and specific heat follow predictions of the two-channel Kondo model, indicating a single-site quadrupole Kondo effect.

Contribution

It demonstrates the presence of single-site quadrupole Kondo effects in a diluted 4f^2 system, supported by scaling and model comparisons, which is a novel insight into NFL behaviors.

Findings

Resistivity and specific heat scale with T/T0

Data agree with two-channel Kondo model predictions

NFL behaviors attributed to quadrupole Kondo effect

Abstract

Electrical resistivity $\rho(T)$ and specific heat $C(T)$ measurements have been made on the diluted 4$f^2$ system Y(Pr)Ir$_2$Zn$_{20}$. Both data of $\rho$ and magnetic specific heat $C_{\rm m}$ per Pr ion are well scaled as a function of $T/T_{\rm 0}$, where $T_{\rm 0}$ is a characteristic temperature of non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behaviors. Furthermore, the temperature dependences of $\rho$ and $C_{\mathrm{m}}/T$ agree with the NFL behaviors predicted by the two-channel Kondo model for the strong coupling limit. Therefore, we infer that the observed NFL behaviors result from the single-site quadrupole Kondo effect due to the hybridization of the 4$f^2$ states with multi-channel conduction electrons.