1202.1010 (N. Egetenmeyer et al.)

Direct observation of the quantum critical point in heavy fermion
CeRhSi$_3$    [PDF]

N. Egetenmeyer, J. L. Gavilano, A. Maisuradze, S. Gerber, M. Kenzelmann, G. Seyfarth, D. Andreica, A. Desilets-Benoit, A. D. Bianchi, Ch. Baines, R. Khasanov, D. E. MacLaughlin

We report on muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) studies of the noncentrosymmetric
heavy fermion antiferromagnet CeRhSi$_3$. A drastic and monotonic suppression
of the internal fields, at the lowest measured temperature, was observed upon
increase of external pressure. Our data suggest that the ordered moments are
gradually quenched with increasing pressure, in a manner different from the
pressure dependence of the N\'eel temperature. At $\unit{23.6}{kbar}$ the
ordered magnetic moments are fully suppressed via a second order phase
transition and $T_{\rm{N}}$ is zero. Thus, we directly observed the quantum
critical point at $\unit{23.6}{kbar}$ hidden inside the superconducting phase
of CeRhSi$_3$.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.1010