Kondo disorder: a possible route towards non-Fermi liquid behavior

TL;DR

This paper proposes a model where disorder in Kondo alloys causes a broad distribution of local Kondo temperatures, potentially leading to non-Fermi liquid behavior, aligning with experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a general disorder model in Kondo alloys that explains non-Fermi liquid behavior through a distribution of Kondo temperatures, supported by thermodynamic and transport analysis.

Findings

Non-Fermi liquid phase arises with broad Kondo temperature distribution.

Model aligns with thermodynamic and transport measurements.

Predictions match dynamical magnetic response of Kondo alloys.

Abstract

We present a general model of disorder in Kondo alloys that, under certain conditions, leads to non-Fermi liquid behavior. The central underlying idea is the presence of a distribution of local Kondo temperature scales. If this distribution is broad enough, such that there are sites with arbitrarily low Kondo temperatures, a non-Fermi liquid phase is formed. We analyze thermodynamics and transport in this approach and show it is consistent with a number of Kondo alloys. We also compare the predictions of this model with the measured dynamical magnetic response of these systems.