The ambivalence of Yb in YbAl2 and YbAl3

✍ Scribed by E.E. Havinga; K.H.J. Buschow; H.J. van Daal

• Book ID: 104166948
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1973
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 533 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0038-1098
• DOI: 10.1016/s0038-1098(73)80026-2

✦ Synopsis

This paper reports the results of a study of the intermetallic compounds YbA12 and YbA13 with regard to lattice constant, electronic specific heat, superconductivity, magnetic susceptibility and resistivity. The experimental data suggest that the Yb ions in YbAla are close to trivalent and yet, at low temperatures, without a magnetic moment. The low temperature data of both compounds are interpreted, assuming a virtual bound 4f-state just below the Fermi level. The number of holes in this state is high, and estimated to be about 0.9 for YbA13 and 0.5 for YbAI~. The high temperature data are discussed with a two-level model, the excited state being the norreal magnetic trivalent state.