Chapter 11 Crystal Growth and Stoichiometry of Strongly Correlated Intermetallic Cerium Compounds

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Strongly correlated electron systems are among the most active research topics in modern condensed matter physics. In strongly correlated materials the electron interaction energies dominate the electron kinetic energy which leads to unconventional properties. Heavy fermion compounds form one of the classes of such materials. In heavy fermion compounds the interaction of itinerant electrons with local magnetic moments generates quasiparticles with masses up to several 1000 electron masses. This may be accompanied by exciting properties, such as unconventional superconductivity in a magnetic environment, non-Fermi liquid behavior and quantum criticality. Strong electronic correlations are responsible for physical phenomena on a low energy scale. Consequently, these phenomena have to be studied at low temperatures. This, in turn, requires ultimate quality of single crystals to avoid that the low temperature intrinsic properties are covered by extrinsic effects due to off-stoichiometry, impurities or other crystal imperfections.

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