Anisotropic Elastic Properties of CeRhIn${}_5$

Abstract

The structure of the quasi two dimensional heavy fermion antiferromagnet CeRhIn${}_5$ has been investigated as a function of pressure up to 13 GPa using a diamond anvil cell under both hydrostatic and quasihydrostatic conditions at room (T=295 K) and low (T=10 K) temperatures. Complementary resonant ultrasound measurements were performed to obtain the complete elastic moduli. The bulk modulus ($B\approx 78$ GPa) and uniaxial compressibilities (${\kappa }_a$ $=3.96\times$ $10^{-3}$ GPa${}^{-1}$ and $=4.22\times$ $10^{-3}$ GPa${}^{-1}$) found from pressure-dependent x-ray diffraction are in good agreement with the ultrasound measurements. Unlike doping on the Rh site where $T_c$ increases linearly with the ratio of the tetragonal lattice parameters $c/a,$ no such correlation is observed under pressure; instead, a double peaked structure with a local minimum around 4-5 GPa is observed at both room and low temperatures.

6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in PRB (edited text and figures)