Evidence for charge delocalization crossover in the quantum critical superconductor CeRhIn(5)

The nature of charge degrees-of-freedom distinguishes scenarios for interpreting the character of a second order magnetic transition at zero temperature, that is, a magnetic quantum critical point (QCP). Heavy-fermion systems are prototypes of this paradigm, and in those, the relevant question is where, relative to a magnetic QCP, does the Kondo effect delocalize their f-electron degrees-of-freedom. Herein, we use pressure-dependent Hall measurements to identify a finite-temperature scale E(loc) that signals a crossover from f-localized to f-delocalized character. As a function of pressure, E(loc)(P) extrapolates smoothly to zero temperature at the antiferromagnetic QCP of CeRhIn(5) where its Fermi surface reconstructs, hallmarks of Kondo-breakdown criticality that generates critical magnetic and charge fluctuations. In 4.4% Sn-doped CeRhIn(5), however, E(loc)(P) extrapolates into its magnetically ordered phase and is decoupled from the pressure-induced magnetic QCP, which implies a spin-density-wave (SDW) type of criticality that produces only critical fluctuations of the SDW order parameter. Our results demonstrate the importance of experimentally determining E(loc) to characterize quantum criticality and the associated consequences for understanding the pairing mechanism of superconductivity that reaches a maximum T(c) in both materials at their respective magnetic QCP.