Structural and magnetic studies on CeTPt₄ (T=Cu, Ga, Rh, Pd, AND In) compounds

Abstract

New cerium-based ternary compounds, CeTPt₄ (T = Cu, Ga, Rh, Pd and In), were synthesized and their magnetic properties have been studied. The compounds CePt₅ and CeTPt₄ with T = Cu, Ga, Rh, and Pd crystallize in the hexagonal CaCu₅ type structure, while CeInPt₄ crsytallizes in the cubic (MgSnCu₄ or MgCu₂ type) structure. Magnetic susceptibility of all these compounds has been measured in the temperature range of 4.2-300K. In all the hexagonal compounds, the susceptibility follows Curie-Weiss behavior down to low temperatures with an effective magnetic moment close to that of the Ce³⁺ ion. The susceptibility of cubic CeInPt₄ also follows Curie-Weiss behavior at high temperatures but shows considerable deviation from it below 100K. The paramagnetic Curie temperature, ϑ_p, is negative in each case but extremely large in CeInPt₄. Thus both the structure-type and the magnetic behavior of CeTPt₄ compounds appear to be strongly influenced by the nature of the T metal atoms.