Reduced dimensionality offers a crucial information in deciding the type of the quantum ground state in heavy fermion materials. Here we have examined stoichiometric CeCo$_{ 2}$Ga$_{ 8}$ compound, which crystallizes in a quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure with Ga-Ce-Co chains along the $c$-axis. The low-temperature behavior of magnetic susceptibility ($\chi\sim-\ln T$), heat capacity ($C_p/T\sim-\ln T$), and resistivity ($\rho\sim T^{ n}$) firmly confirm the non-Fermi liquid ground state of CeCo$_{ 2}$Ga$_{ 8}$. We studied the low-energy spin dynamics of CeCo$_{ 2}$Ga$_{ 8}$ compound utilizing zero field (ZF-) and longitudinal field (LF-) muon spin relaxation ($\mu$SR) measurements. ZF-$\mu$SR measurement reveals the absence of long-range magnetic ordering down to 70 mK, and interestingly below 1 K, the electronic relaxation rate sharply rises, intimating the appearance of low energy quantum spin fluctuations in CeCo$_{ 2}$Ga$_{ 8}$.

Categories: cond-mat.str-el cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Quantum Fluctuations in the Non-Fermi Liquid System CeCo$_{2}$Ga$_{8}$ Investigated Using $\mu$SR