UC Irvine

For any thorough investigation of complex physical properties, as encountered in strongly correlated electron systems, not only single crystals of highest quality but also a detailed knowledge of the structural properties of the material are pivotal prerequisites. Here, we combine physical and chemical investigations on the prototypical heavy fermion superconductors CeIrIn5 and CeCoIn5 on atomic and macroscopic length scale to gain insight into their precise structural properties. Our approach spans from enhanced resolution X-ray diffraction experiments to atomic resolution by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and reveal a certain type of local features (coexistence of minority and majority structural patterns) in the tetragonal HoCoGa 5-type structure of both compounds.