Crystalline electric field effects in the electrical resistivity of PrOs4Sb12

The temperature T and magnetic field H dependences of the electrical resistivity ρ of the recently discovered heavy-fermion superconductor PrOs4Sb12 have features that are associated with the splitting of the Pr3+ Hund's rule multiplet by the crystalline electric field (CEF). These features are apparently due to magnetic exchange and aspherical Coulomb scattering from the thermally populated CEF-split Pr3+ energy levels. The ρ(T) data in zero magnetic field can be described well by calculations based on CEF theory for various ratios of magnetic exchange and aspherical Coulomb scattering, and yield CEF parameters that are qualitatively consistent with those previously derived from magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, and inelastic neutron scattering measurements. Calculated ρ(H) isotherms for a Γ3 ground state qualitatively account for the 'dome-shaped' feature in the measured ρ(H) isotherms.

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