Magnetostriction of the Heavy Fermion Antiferromagnet YbAgGe

Abstract

We measured the magnetostriction of YbAgGe, a heavy fermion compound, along the a-axis and c-axis using a capacitive dilatometer. Magnetic fields as high as 9T and temperatures as low as 0.3K were used. We identified two antiferromagnetic phase transitions with the field parallel to the a-axis at low temperatures and magnetic field, as well as a third phase at slightly higher field. These results coincide with the phase diagram found in existing studies. Results with the field parallel to the c-axis also agreed with the phase diagram, except a previously known phase transition may extend into a higher temperature and lower magnetic field region than is currently depicted. In this poster we explore the evidence leading to this possibility as well as the future direction of our research.