Non-Fermi Liquid Behavior in the Magnetotransport of Ce<i>M</i>In₅ (<i>M</i>: Co and Rh): Striking Similarity between Quasi Two-Dimensional Heavy Fermion and High-<i>T</i>_c Cuprates

Abstract

We present a systematic study of the dc-resistivity, Hall effect, and\nmagnetoresistance in the normal state of quasi 2D heavy fermion superconductors\nCeMIn5 (M: Rh and Co) under pressure. Here the electronic system evolves with\npressure from an antiferromagnetic (AF) metal, through a highly unconventional\nnon-Fermi liquid, and finally into a Fermi-liquid state. The amplitude of the\nHall coefficient increases dramatically with decreasing T, reaching at low\ntemperatures a value significantly larger than 1/ne. Furthermore, the\nmagnetoresistance is characterized by T- and H-dependence which clearly violate\nKohler's rule. We found that the Hall angle cot\\Theta varies as T^2, and the\nmagnetoresistance is well scaled by the Hall angle as \\Delta\n\\rho_{xx}/\\rho_{xx}\\propto \\tan^2\\Theta. These non-Fermi liquid properties in\nthe electron transport are remarkably pronounced when the AF fluctuations are\nenhanced in the vicinity of the QCP. We lay particular emphasis on the striking\nresemblance of these anomalous magnetotransport with those of the high-Tc\ncuprates. We argue that features commonly observed in quasi 2D heavy fermion\nand cuprates very likely capture universal features of strongly correlated\nelectron systems.\n