Hexadecapole order in Pr-skutterudite

摘要

For Pr-based filled skutterudite compound, we propose a hexadecapole order without breaking local symmetry. It is shown that the hexadecapole ordered state appears in the case that the ground state of Pr-ion is Gamma(1) singlet, and conduction electrons hybridize with f-electron principally belonging to Gamma(5) irreducible representation in T-h point group. The hexadecapole transition seems to be consistent with metal-insulator transition of PrRu4P12. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.