Microscopic Mechanism for Staggered Scalar Order in PrFe4P12

A microscopic model is proposed for the scalar order in PrFe4P12 where f(2) crystalline electric field (CEF) singlet and triplet states interact with two conduction bands. By combining dynamical mean-field theory and the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo, we obtain an electronic order with staggered Kondo and CEF singlets with the total conduction number being unity per site. The ground state becomes semimetallic provided that the two conduction bands have different occupation numbers. This model naturally explains experimentally observed properties in the ordered phase of PrFe4P12 such as the scalar order parameter, temperature dependence of the resistivity, field-induced staggered moment, and inelastic features in neutron scattering. The Kondo effect plays an essential role for ordering, in strong contrast with ordinary magnetic orders by the RKKY interaction.