High-resolution thermal expansion measurements in Ce and U-based intermetallic compounds

• Grant number: 22/09240-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): October 03, 2022
• Effective date (End): October 02, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Pascoal Jose Giglio Pagliuso
• Grantee: Gabriel Silva Freitas
• Supervisor: Priscila Ferrari Silveira Rosa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Los Alamos National Laboratory, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/26247-9 - Emergent phenomena in Bi-based systems with low dimensionality, BP.DR

Abstract

Traditionally, great attention has been devoted to Ce and U-based compounds, mainly due to the complex platform provided by the competing interactions associated with the f-electrons that govern the physical properties of these systems. Such interactions as the RKKY (Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida) magnetic exchange, the Kondo, and crystalline electric field (CEF) effects have yielded intriguing ground states such as unconventional superconductivity in the heavy-fermion superconductors CeCoIn5 and URu2Si2. Additionally, one can find in these systems examples of highly anisotropic magnetic compounds with competing antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic order states, complex magnetism, non-Fermi-liquid behavior, quantum criticality, and, as observed in the past decade, non-trivial topological states (CeSbTe and UTe2). Here, we propose a systematic study of thermal expansion data of such systems as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. Using high-resolution capacitance dilatometer (Delta L/L ~ 10E-8) we aim to acquire valuable information that will provide bright new insights into the understanding of the f-electrons' electronic and magnetic properties that rule the physical properties of Ce and U-based compounds. These experiments will be carried in the selected compounds CeCuBi2-xSbx, CeAuBi2, UAgBi2 and UAuBi2. These compounds are being studied in our group at Unicamp and LANL. In particular, UAgBi2 is an unreported newly synthesized by Dr. Priscila Rosa that will be fully characterized with other experiments besides thermal expansion. Dr. Priscila's group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is internationally renowned for cutting-edge scientific research in f-electron based materials. Besides the impressive infrastructure provided by LANL to conduct high-quality research, Dr. Priscila is a world-renowned expert in rare-earth/actinide-based compounds physics with an extensive list of high-impact publications and numerous citations. In Dr. Priscila's group, I will be co-supervised by Dr. Sean Thomas, who is an expert in research involving thermal expansion experiments under various conditions. It is worth mentioning that such highly precise thermal expansion measurements cannot be performed at our laboratory in Brazil; however, the knowledge brought in can provide many opportunities for our group. Further, this project will strengthen the collaboration between UNICAMP and LANL, which is already a successful route for the exchange of students and posdocs and has a great history of intense scientific collaboration. This internship will bring an extensive list of benefits to my academic career and my research group in Brazil, reinforcing this opportunity's great value. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SOUZA, J. C.; CARLONE, M.; LESSEUX, G. G.; PIZZI, H. B.; FREITAS, G. S.; URBANO, R. R.; VENEGAS, A.; PAGLIUSO, P. G.. Magnetic interactions of 4f electrons in the topological insulator chalcogenide Bi2Se3. PHYSICAL REVIEW B, v. 106, n. 23, p. 9-pg., 2022-12-07. (20/12283-0, 22/09240-3, 12/04870-7, 19/26247-9, 17/10581-1, 18/11364-7)