Quasiparticle properties below coherence onset in YbAl3 nanostructures

Dale T. Lowder; Gage Eichman; Yuxin Wan; Karthik Rao; Ruiwen Xie; Hongbin Zhang; Debjoty Paul; Shouvik Chatterjee; Darrell G. Schlom; Kyle Shen; Emilia Morosan; Douglas Natelson

arXiv · 2603.16563

Quasiparticle properties below coherence onset in YbAl3 nanostructures

Dale T. Lowder·Gage Eichman·Yuxin Wan·Karthik Rao·Ruiwen Xie·Hongbin Zhang·Debjoty Paul·Shouvik Chatterjee·Darrell G. Schlom·Kyle Shen·Emilia Morosan·Douglas Natelson

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Abstract

Mesoscopic transport measurements are underexplored as probes of quasiparticles and their properties in correlated metals. The mixed valence compound YbAl$_3$ exhibits a single-ion Kondo temperature of 670 K, while thermodynamic and transport properties (probed with specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, Hall effect, and resistivity) imply the onset of coherence of heavy fermion quasiparticles at T$* \approx$ 37 K. To characterize these quasiparticles, we utilize mesoscopic techniques familiar from weakly correlated conductors. In lithographically-defined nanowires etched from epitaxial films, we observe weak antilocalization magnetoresistance and universal conductance fluctuations, consistent with electronic coherence lengths of tens of nanometers. Additionally, analysis of Johnson-Nyquist noise measurements as a function of bias current reveal, within the context of a range of accepted models, a significant electron-phonon energy loss that increases with decreasing temperature, a finding that we contextualize within the broader properties of YbAl$_3$.

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Dale T. Lowder, Gage Eichman, Yuxin Wan, Karthik Rao, Ruiwen Xie, Hongbin Zhang, Debjoty Paul, Shouvik Chatterjee, Darrell G. Schlom, Kyle Shen, Emilia Morosan, Douglas Natelson. 2026-03-17. Quasiparticle properties below coherence onset in YbAl3 nanostructures. https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.16563

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