BARC/PUB/2017/0704

 
 

Synthesis, magnetic and electrical properties of R3AlCx (R = Ce, Pr and Nd)

 
     
 
Author(s)

Ghule, S. S.; Garde, C. S.; Ramakrishnan, S.; Rajarajan, A. K.; and others
(SSPD)

Source

Physica-B, 2017. Vol. 521: pp. 168-174

ABSTRACT

R3AlCx (R = Ce, Pr and Nd; x = 0–1) series has been synthesized by arc melting. Rietveld analysis of x-ray powder diffraction reveals cubic (Pm-3m) structure. A Kondo temperature TK ~ 1 K is estimated for Ce3AlC0.65 from the susceptibility and resistivity data. Magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate antiferromagnetic (AFM) order for R = Pr (x = 0.8 and 1) and Nd (x = 0.6, 0.8 and 1) and ferromagnetic (FM) for Nd3Al. Metamagnetic behaviour in the magnetization curve indicates complex magnetic structure. Band structure calculations indicate growth of a pseudo-gap in the density of states (DOS) from Ce3AlC to Pr3AlC to Nd3AlC. The DOS calculations predict a metallic behaviour which is consistent with the resistivity measurements.

 
 
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