Themal Expansion and Magnetostriction of YbAuCu4

Precise thermal expansion and magnetostriction measurements were performed on the heavyfermion compound YbAuCu4 in order to examine the crossover valence transition at TV which was proposed by the nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. The temperature dependence of the thermal expansion coefficient α under magnetic fields shows a broad peak, which shifts to higher temperatures with increasing magnetic fields. The corresponding linear thermal expansion Δℓ/.ℓ parallel to the magnetic field of 7.0 T shows a marked decrease below about 10 K, indicating a contraction of sample length at low temperatures. These results are discussed in relation to the observed temperature dependence of the nuclear quadrupole frequency νQ under magnetic fields.