Abstract

Single crystals of the ternary cerium arsenide CeAgAs2 were grown by chemical vapor transport. They were studied by means of x-ray diffraction, magnetization, heat capacity and electrical transport measurements. The experimental research was supplemented with electronic band structure calculations. The compound was confirmed to order antiferromagnetically at the Néel temperature of 4.9 K and to undergo metamagnetic transition in a field of 0.5 T at 1.72 K. The electrical resistivity shows distinct increase at low temperatures, which origin is discussed in terms of pseudo-gap formation in the density of states at the Fermi level and quantum corrections to the resistivity in the presence of atom disorder due to crystal structure imperfections.

Highlights

  • Most of compounds with composition CeTX2, where T is a transition metal and X stands for a pnictogen, crystallize with the tetragonal HfCuSi2 -type structure or its derivatives

  • In line with the findings communicated in Refs. [9,10], the intensities of the single crystal diffraction data of the investigated crystal were calculated as a sum of two diffraction domains related by the twin matrix

  • Single crystals of CeAgAs2, grown using chemical vapor transport method, were found to crystallize with an orthorhombic structure, which is derivative of the tetragonal HfCuSi2 -type structure

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Most of compounds with composition CeTX2 , where T is a transition metal and X stands for a pnictogen, crystallize with the tetragonal HfCuSi2 -type structure (space group P4/nmm) or its derivatives. They were reported to show large variety of physical behaviors, e.g., field-induced quantum criticality in CeAuSb2 [1], strongly anomalous low-temperature characteristics in CeCuAs2 [2], or different types of magnetic ordering [3,4,5,6]. A characteristic feature of this structure is the presence of cis-trans chains of As atoms, which brings about breaking of the tetragonal symmetry and orthorhombic deformation

Methods
Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.