Electron magnetic versus metallic behavior

Electronic Localization Magnetic versus Metallic Behavior in... 

Mossbauer spectroscopy is a powerful tool to gain essential information on the difference in electron structure between intermetallic compounds of 4f and 5f elements. In the latter series the work concentrates on Np materials. For this actinide bulk magnetic and transport data are still scarce and even neutron diffraction results are not plentiful. Mossbauer spectroscopy is thus in some sense a forerunner. It has been shown that measurements under high pressures are pivotal for a deeper insight of electronic properties, in particular with the question of 3d-like itinerant versus 4f-like localized electron behavior of the 5f electrons in Np. It becomes more and more apparent that U and Np behave often quite differently mainly because of the somewhat more pronounced tendency of the latter towards f localization. Nevertheless, the formation of 5f bands via hybridization plays a central role also in Np metallic compounds. 

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