Crystalline Electric Field and Kondo Effect in SmOs4Sb12

Our ultrasound results obtained in pulsed magnetic fields show that the filled-skutterudite compound SmOs4Sb12 has the Γ67 quartet crystalline-electric-field ground state. This fact suggests that the multipolar degrees of freedom of the Γ67 quartet play an important role in the unusual physical properties of this material. On the other hand, the elastic response below ≈20 T cannot be explained using the localized 4f-electron model, which does not take into account the Kondo effect or ferromagnetic ordering. The analysis result suggests the presence of a Kondo-like screened state at low magnetic fields and its suppression at high magnetic fields above 20 T even at low temperatures