Orbital two-channel Kondo effect in epitaxial ferromagnetic L1(0)-MnAl films

• Published in: Nature communications 2016-02, Vol.7, p.10817-10817
• Main Authors: Zhu, L J, Nie, S H, Xiong, P, Schlottmann, P, Zhao, J H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10817

The orbital two-channel Kondo effect displaying exotic non-Fermi liquid behaviour arises in the intricate scenario of two conduction electrons compensating a pseudo-spin-1/2 impurity of two-level system. Despite extensive efforts for several decades, no material system has been clearly identified to exhibit all three transport regimes characteristic of the two-channel Kondo effect in the same sample, leaving the interpretation of the experimental results a subject of debate. Here we present a transport study suggestive of a robust orbital two-channel Kondo effect in epitaxial ferromagnetic L1(0)-MnAl films, as evidenced by a magnetic field-independent resistivity upturn with a clear transition from logarithmic- to square-root temperature dependence and deviation from it in three distinct temperature regimes. Our results also provide an experimental indication of the presence of two-channel Kondo physics in a ferromagnet, pointing to considerable robustness of the orbital two-channel Kondo effect even in the presence of spin polarization of the conduction electrons.