Kondo interactions and magnetic correlations in CePt2 nanocrystals

Abstract

The evolution of the Kondo effect and antiferromagnetic (AF) correlations with size reduction in CePt2 nanoparticles (3.1-26 nm) is studied by analysis of the temperature-dependent specific heat and magnetic susceptibility. The AF correlations diminish with size reduction. The Kondo effect predominates at small particle size with trivalent, small Kondo temperature (T-K) magnetic regions coexisting with strongly mixed-valent, large T-K nonmagnetic regions. We discuss the role of structural disorder, background density of states and the electronic quantum size effect on the results.