Abstract: A comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of the low temperature properties of GdCoIn5 was performed. Specific heat, thermal expansion, magnetization and electrical resistivity were measured in good quality single crystals down to 4He temperatures. All the experiments show a second-order-like phase transition at 30 K probably associated with the onset of antiferromagnetic order. The magnetic susceptibility shows a pronounced anisotropy below T N with an easy magnetic axis perpendicular to the crystallographic ĉ-axis. Total energy GGA+U calculations indicate a ground state with magnetic moments localized at the Gd ions and allowed a determination of the Gd-Gd magnetic interactions. Band structure calculations of the electron and phonon contributions to the specific heat together with Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the magnetic contributions show a very good agreement with the experimental data. Comparison between experiment and calculations suggests a significant anharmonic contribution to the specific heat at high temperature (View the MathML sourceT≳100K).

Abstract: X-ray diffraction, susceptibility and specific heat studies on ternary Ce2Pd2Sn intermetallic compound and on its isostructural nonmagnetic compound La2Pd2Sn are reported. On Ce2Pd2Sn in absence of magnetic field, we confirm the existence of two magnetic transitions at T-N = 4.8K (antiferromagnetic transition) and T-C = 2.2K (ferromagnetic transition) and the specific heat results, measured down to 0.5 K, allow to recognize the transition at 2.2K as a first-order transition. A description based on molecular field calculations for the S = 1/2 resonant level model leads to a characteristic Kondo T-K of about 3K. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Ce intermetallic compounds have been intensively studied in the last few decades due to the large variety of behaviours they exhibit. In particular, two ways of demagnetizing Ce have been experimentally tried within the ferromagnetic systems Ce(Pd1-xMx), namely through electronic concentration variations (M=Rh) and volume reductions (M=Ni). On the other hand, when Pd is substituted by Ag, a transformation from a ferromagnetic to an antiferromagnetic ground state has been observed. In this work, we analyse the evolution of the magnetism of Ce in the above-mentioned family of compounds by calculating the spin contribution to magnetism that results from spin polarised LDA calculations. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract: Magnetic susceptibility, high field magnetization and specific heat measurements on CeCu are presented. An antiferromagnetic transition is observed at T(N) = 313 K, with some evidences of low dimensionality of the order parameter. The saturation magnetization. M(s) = 1.16-mu(B), implies that the crystalline electric field (CEF) ground state doublet is strongly magnetic, in agreement with the low temperature Curie constant C = 0.46 emu K/mol. In the high temperature limit (T > 50 K), the obtained Curie constant is C = 0.65 emu K/mol, which suggests an overall CEF splitting larger than 200 K. The entropy gain at the magnetic transition is 72% of the expected R in 2. The missing entropy is related to a specific heat anomaly with a maximum at approximately 13 K, which is attributed to magnetic fluctuations in the Ce chains. The transition temperature and the high temperature broad maximum in the specific heat are weakly affected by an applied magnetic field of 1 T.

Abstract: We report on the specific heat and dc magnetic susceptibility measurements of the YNd 4.5, 6.8 and 9.0 at % alloys. These systems present long-range SDW order just below the critical temperature. For temperatures well below T(C), the spin glass type of behavior is manifest. An interpretation is given in terms of a disorder- and frustration-induced breaking of the SDW coherence into small domains.