Hidden order in Ce3Co4Sn13

We propose a powder inelastic neutron scattering experiment on the Merlin instrument to measure changes in the energy transfer of excitations between the 3 Ce3+ Kramers doublets in Ce3Co4Sn13. These measurements will be made on warming through a low temperature specific heat anomaly, which must originate in a yet to be found ‘hidden order’. If successful, we will demonstrate that the low temperature phase transition of this puzzling system originates in quadrupolar order, which may persist while magnetic dipole order is suppressed by competing Ising-like single ion anisotropies.

我们提议在Merlin仪器上开展粉末非弹性中子散射实验，以测量Ce₃Co₄Sn₁₃中3个Ce³⁺克莱默斯二重态（Kramers doublets）之间激发的能量转移变化。这些测量将在升温过程中穿过低温比热反常区域时进行，该反常必定源于一种尚未发现的“隐藏序（hidden order）”。若实验成功，我们将证明这一令人困惑的体系的低温相变源于四极序（quadrupolar order）；在相互竞争的类伊辛单离子各向异性（Ising-like single ion anisotropies）抑制磁偶极序的情况下，四极序可能依然存在。