Heat capacity, magnetic susceptibility, and electric resistivity of the equiatomic ternary compound CePdSn

Abstract

Results of low-temperature heat-capacity measurements (2-20 K) on CePdSn and of magnetic-susceptibility and electrical resistivity measurements (4.2-300 K) on CePdSn, GdPdSn, and DyPdSn are presented. These compounds are found to order antiferromagnetically with Neel temperatures (T_N) of 7.5, 14.5, and 11.4 K for Ce, Gd, and Dy compounds, respectively. The Neel temperature of CePdSn is anomalously large compared with that expected on the basis of de Gennes scaling from the T_N of 14.5 K of isostructural GdPdSn, suggesting strong Ce 4f conduction-electron hybridization. In the paramagnetic state the susceptibility of CePdSn follows Curie-Weiss behavior between 40 and 300 K with an effective paramagnetic moment close to that of free Ce³⁺ ion, but shows deviation from Curie-Weiss behavior below 40 K. The deviation may be due to the crystalline-electric-field effects. The magnetic entropy of CePdSn shows that the crystal-field-split ground state of Ce³⁺ is a doublet. An analysis of the susceptibility and resistivity results on CePdSn in terms of crystal-field effects is presented.