LiV2O4Spinel as a Heavy-Mass Fermi Liquid: Anomalous Transport and Role of Geometrical Frustration

Abstract

Transport and specific heat measurements on hydrothermally grown single crystals reveal the formation of a heavy-mass Fermi liquid in the ${\mathrm{LiV}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_4$ spinel, below a coherence temperature of $T^{*}=20\mathrm{}–30\mathrm{K}$. A few observations which illustrate the uniqueness of this spinel are discussed in connection with the origin of the heavy mass, such as the anomalous absence of resistivity saturation above $T^{*}$ and the close proximity to a spin glass phase where the influence of the magnetic frustration is evident.