Abstract
Typical phenomena and current concepts of rare earth (RE) ions in metals are briefly reviewed. As an exemplary host, the superconductor LaAl2 was chosen to delineate the magnetic behavior of the “normal” RE Gd and Tb and of the “ambivalent” RE Ce. Since magnetic interactions between RE ions are found to be extremely weak, relevant aspects of single ion behavior can be studied with high accuracy. The properties of the “normal” RE reflect the ferromagnetic exchange interaction with the conduction electrons and the coupling to the crystalline electric field (CF). The behavior of the “ambivalent” Ce is dominated by covalent mixing of the 4f states with the conduction band states. Modification of this interaction by lattice pressure, and its competition with CF effects and magnetic interactions are discussed.
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