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Updated: May 16, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Formation of metallic magnetic clusters in a Kondo-lattice metal: evidence from an optical study
N N Kovaleva1, K I Kugel, A V Bazhenov
1Department of Physics, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU Loughborough, United Kingdom. N.Kovaleva@lboro.ac.uk
Abstract:
Magnetic materials are usually divided into two classes: those with localised magnetic moments, and those with itinerant charge carriers. We present a comprehensive experimental (spectroscopic ellipsomerty) and theoretical study to demonstrate that these two types of magnetism do not only coexist but complement each other in the Kondo-lattice metal, Tb(2)PdSi(3). In this material the itinerant charge carriers interact with large localised magnetic moments of Tb(4f) states, forming complex magnetic lattices at low temperatures, which we associate with self-organisation of magnetic clusters. The formation of magnetic clusters results in low-energy optical spectral weight shifts, which correspond to opening of the pseudogap in the conduction band of the itinerant charge carriers and development of the low- and high-spin intersite electronic transitions. This phenomenon, driven by self-trapping of electrons by magnetic fluctuations, could be common in correlated metals, including besides Kondo-lattice metals, Fe-based and cuprate superconductors.
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