Abstract
Structural, magnetization, and heat capacity measurements were performed on Ce(PdNi)Sn compounds covering the full range of the MoFeB structure stability (). In this system, the two transitions observed in CePdSn (antiferromagnetic K and ferromagnetic K) converge into a tricritical point at K for , where the intermediate antiferromagnetic (AF) phase is suppressed. The decrease of the phase boundary is due to an incipient Kondo screening of the Ce-4 moments. This effect and the increase of local atomic disorder affect the formation of Ce-magnetic dimers on which the Shastry-Sutherland lattice (SSL) builds up. On the contrary, the transition to the ferromagnetic ground state increases as a consequence of the weakening of the intermediate phase. Applied magnetic fields also suppress the AF-SSL phase as it was already observed in the stoichiometric compound.
1 More- Received 11 October 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.134404
©2012 American Physical Society