Quantum critical behaviour in Ce 3 Pd 20 Si 6

The cage compound Ce3Pd20Si6 has recently been shown to undergo two successive low-temperature phase transitions which are strongly affected by an applied magnetic field. Here we show that, as the lower, probably antiferromagnetic transition is suppressed to zero in a field slightly above 1 T, the electrical resistivity shows a non-Fermi-liquid-like linear-in-T temperature dependence while it follows the usual Fermi liquid T 2 temperature dependence both at smaller and larger fields. This suggests that a field-induced quantum critical point exists in Ce3Pd20Si6. r 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.