Kondo effect

physics

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June 30, 2026

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The Kondo effect describes a phenomenon in physics where magnetic ions, acting as impurities within nonmagnetic crystals, retain their magnetic moments. When these impurities are in a metallic host, they significantly influence electrical resistivity. Conduction electrons scatter off these magnetic impurities, and due to the spins of both the electrons and the impurities, mutual spin-flipping can occur during scattering. This spin-flip scattering becomes stronger at lower temperatures, causing an increase in electrical resistivity as the temperature decreases. This effect was explained by Jun Kondo and is characterized by a specific "Kondo temperature," below which the resistivity rises. A common example is iron impurities in copper, with a Kondo temperature of 24 K.1

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The Kondo effect
Magnetic ions have interesting properties when they are found as impurities in nonmagnetic crystals. They usually retain their magnetic moment, so small magnets are distributed randomly throughout the crystal. If the host crystal is a metal, the magnetic impurities make an interesting contribution…
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Magnetic ions have interesting properties when they are found as impurities in nonmagnetic crystals. They usually retain their magnetic moment, so small magnets are distributed randomly throughout the crystal. If the host crystal is a metal, the magnetic impurities make an interesting contribution…
Read More