Local magnetism of dilute cerium impurities in uranium metal: role of Ce-4f, host-f electron interaction on 4f spin fluctuations

Using the time differential perturbed angular correlations methods the authors have observed a large magnetic moment with small 4f spin fluctuation rate for dilute Ce impurities in U metal. The magnetism of Ce in U, which deviates strongly from the trend observed in hosts with sp and d band conduction electrons, suggests that Ce moment stability is mainly governed by interatomic f-f interaction between the Ce 4f and host 5f band electrons. It is proposed that ferromagnetic f-f interaction can compete with and drastically suppress spin fluctuations arising from antiferromagnetic f-dsp hybridization, leading to higher moment stability.