PuPt2In7: A computational and experimental investigation.

Flux-grown single crystals of PuPt2In7 are characterized and found to be both nonsuperconducting and nonmagnetic down to 2 K. The Sommerfeld specific heat coefficient of 250 mj/mol K² indicates heavy fermion behavior. We report the results of generalized gradient approximation (GGA) + U calculations of PuPt2In7 and as yet unsynthesized isovalent PuPt2Ga7. The strength of the c-f hybridization of PuPt2In7 is similar to the PuCoIn5 superconductor. The bare and /-weighted susceptibility within the constant-matrix-element approximation is calculated, showing a maximum along the qz direction at qx = qy = 0.5. A similar and slightly stronger maximum is also found in the structurally related heavy-fermion materials PuCoGa5 and PuCoIn5. The absence of superconductivity in PuPt2In7 is examined based on the results of our calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]