Eur. Phys. J. B 46, 257-267 (2005)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2005-00250-0

Spin fluctuations in the skutterudite compound LaFe₄Sb₁₂

¹ Groupe d'Étude des Semiconducteurs (Laboratoire associé au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) , Université de Montpellier II, pl. Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex, France
² Laboratoire de Physicochimie de la Matière Condensée, Université de Montpellier II, pl. Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex, France
³ Centre de Recherche des Basses températures, CNRS, 25 Avenue des Martyrs, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble, France
⁴ Fédération de Recherche Matière et Systèmes Complexes, 140 rue de Lourmel, 75015 Paris, France
⁵ Max Planck Institut für Chemische Physik festerStoffe, Nothnitzer Str. 40, 01187 Dresden, Germany

Corresponding author: ^a mauger@ccr.jussieu.fr

Received: 21 January 2005
Revised: 25 April 2005
Published online: 11 August 2005

Abstract

We report transport, magnetic and thermodynamic properties of the skutterudite compound LaFe₄Sb₁₂. The basic features are a large magnetic susceptibility , and large electronic coefficient γ of the heat capacity. In particular, a , and temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility , resistivity , and Grüneisen parameter , respectively, is found at low temperature. An overall understanding of these physical properties is achieved, assuming that LaFe₄Sb₁₂ is a non-Fermi liquid system close to a ferromagnetic quantum critical point, with a spin fluctuation temperature  K.