Abstract
Inelastic powder neutron scattering has been employed to study crystalline-electric field (CEF) interaction in the ternary intermetallic compounds RPd2Ga3 (R = light rare earth) with hexagonal PrNi2Al3-type crystal structure. We have been able to observe the three strongest CEF transitions for NdPd2Ga3 and the two strongest CEF transitions for PrPd2Ga3. Including the strongest CEF transition of CePd2Ga3 we present a consistent description of the CEF level diagrams of RPd2Ga3 (R = Ce, Pr, Nd), which successfully reproduces excitation energies and intensities of all measured CEF transitions as well as correctly predicts the easy axes of magnetization and reasonably explains the size of the magnetically ordered moments in CePd2Ga3 and NdPd2Ga3. The 6th order CEF potential in the gallium compound NdPd2Ga3 is found to be reduced by 30% below that of the isostructural aluminum compound NdPd2Al3 which suggests that the change of CEF parameters is dominated by electronic effects.
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