Effect of pressure on the Kondo compound CeRhSb

Abstract

CeRhSb crystallizes in the orthorhombic ϵ-TiNiSi-type structure. It has been shown that CeRhSb is a semiconductor type valence fluctuating compound such as Ce 3Pt 4Bi 3. In the present work we measured the elecrical resistivity and magnetoresistance of CeRhSb in the ranges, pressure P, 0 ⩽ P ⩽ 8 GPa, temperature T, 2.0 K ⩽ T ⩽ 300 K, and magneticfield H, 0 ⩽ H ⩽ 5 T. At 1 bar, ϱ( T) of CeRhSb shows a minimum ( T min) at 7.8 K, which may reflects opening of an energy gap. T min increases with pressure and has a broad maximum centered near 4 GPa. The pressure dependence of T min indicates that the gap disappears at pressures between 7 and 8 GPa. The magnetoresistance below 5 T is large and positive under pressure up to 2.3 GPa.