Magnetization, Maxwell's Relations and the Local Physics of the Dilute System Th₁₋ₓUₓRu₂Si₂

الأصل · EN

The dilute Kondo compound, Th₁₋ₓUₓRu₂Si₂ (TURS), displays non-Fermi liquid behavior but no zero-point entropy; it thus appears to elude description by known single-ion models. It may also provide a clue to the underlying local degrees of freedom in its dense counterpart, URu₂Si₂. Here we use high-resolution magnetization studies to cross-check the thermodynamic consistency of previous experiments. Measurements of the field-dependence of the temperature-scale, TF(H), associated with Fermi liquid behavior probes the nature of the underlying impurity fixed point. We find that TF(H) grows linearly with applied field, in contrast to the quadratic form expected for the two-channel Kondo model. We use a scaling argument to show that the observed behavior of TF(H) is consistent with the absence of zero-point entropy, suggesting novel impurity behavior in this material. More generally, we suggest the field-magnetization as a probe of single-ion physics and make predictions for its behavior in other actinide compounds.