Observation of the two-channel quadrupolar Kondo effect in Y1-xUxPd3

Abstract

We present measurements of electrical resistivity p(T), magnetic susceptibility x(T), and specific heat C(T) for the system Y1-xUxPd3. The data are consistent with nearly localized tetravalent uranium ions leading to "Fermi-level tuning" and competition between single ion Kondo (0xxTTK, where TK is the Kondo temperature, the electrical resistivity varies nearly linearly with temperature p(T)/p(0)[approximate] 1 -T/(aTK), and the electronic specific heat diverges logarithmically [Delta]C/T[approximate] -(1/TK)1nT with a finite residual T=0 entropy S(0)[approximate](R/2)ln2. This appears to be the first example of the quadrupolar Kondo effect and two-channel behavior in a dilute alloy and the first example of "marginal Fermi liquid" phenomenology in a fully three-dimensional system.