Magnetic resonance, non-Fermi-liquid behavior, and disorder in f-electron materials

Magnetic resonance techniques are local probes of real-space magnetism. As a result NMR and μSR spectra are sensitive to disorder, and thus are suited to investigations of disorder-driven effects. Three such studies in non-Fermi liquid (NFL) f-electron metals are reviewed: (1) Cu NMR and μSR linewidths in NFL UCu5-xPdx reveal that uncompensated spins at low energies due to atomic-scale disorder are a major factor in these alloys. (2) 29Si NMR in CePtSi1-xGex shows that disorder influences the NFL behavior for x=0.1 but not for x=0. (3) 27Al NMR impurity satellite linewidths in f-site diluted NFL alloys U1-xLaxPd2Al3, x≲1, give evidence for a modest degree of disorder which, however, does not appreciably affect the NFL behavior of this system.