We investigated the electronic structure, magnetic properties, and thermoelectric characteristics of a newly discovered icosahedral quasicrystal (QC) Zn–Au–Yb. High-energy-resolution x-ray absorption spectroscopy confirmed that the Yb ions are in an intermediate-valence (IV) state with ν ≈ 2.48. The uniform magnetic susceptibility follows a power-law temperature dependence but saturates at the lowest temperatures without divergence, indicating the absence of non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior. The Seebeck coefficient also exhibits a linear temperature dependence at low temperatures. Under applied pressures up to 10 GPa, the Yb valence increases smoothly without anomalies such as a valence singularity. These results establish Zn–Au–Yb as an IV-QC that exhibits Fermi-liquid (FL) behavior, providing a valuable reference system for elucidating the mechanisms governing NFL behavior and quantum criticality in IV-QCs such as the Au–Al–Yb QC.
Imura et al. (Fri,) studied this question.