Unanticipated resistivity results in the uranium niobium binary alloy system
Abstract
The uranium niobium binary alloy system exhibits a rich collection of phenomena for study. The composition range from 0 weight percent Nb to 10 weight percent Nb exhibits multiple crystallographic phases with interesting properties such as superconductivity, charge density waves and shape memory effects. We have measured the resistivity and heat capacity as a function of temperature from 2 to 325K in the above composition range in an effort to map out the phase boundaries of interest. Surprisingly the temperature dependence of the resistivity transitions from metallic (decreasing with decreasing temperature)below 6 weight percent Nb to nonmetallic (increasing with decreasing temperature)above 6 weight percent Nb. It is not clear if the nonmetallic resistivity is caused by strongly correlated electronic effects or is the result of some other effect such as disorder driven scattering. Work supported by the United States Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002APS..MARB20010C