Abstract
Relatively large (up to 250 mg) single crystals of the intermetallic compound have been prepared by a flux-growth technique. The results of thermodynamic and transport measurements of these samples are presented. The compound orders ferromagnetically at approximately with a magnetization consistent with the assignment and The Mn moments are local in nature, with the full effective and saturated moment of the Hund’s rule spin-only ground state. The electrical resistivity has a metallic temperature dependence, with only a modest anisotropy. Room-temperature values of the resistivity are relatively high for an intermetallic compound: and for currents flowing approximately parallel and perpendicular to the c axis, respectively. There is a distinct loss of spin-disorder scattering in the resistivity at From the heat capacity, a rough estimation of the magnetic entropy gives the value in reasonable agreement with the expected from the assignment of these moments. All of these data are consistent with a picture of local moments being coupled via conduction electrons. To this end, appears to be analogous to local-moment rare-earth intermetallic compounds, and may point the way toward a class of Kondo lattice compounds.
- Received 17 December 1998
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.59.13829
©1999 American Physical Society