Abstract
R 3Cu 4Sn 4 (R=rare earth) compounds crystallise in the orthorhombic, Gd 3Cu 4Ge 4-type structure with space group Immm. There are two symmetry-inequivalent crystallographic sites for the rare earth ions in this structure. We have studied the magnetic properties of compounds with R=La, Pr, Nd and Sm. Both the symmetry-inequivalent Sm ions are found to be in the trivalent state. While La 3Cu 4Sn 4 is diamagnetic at room temperature, the other members of the series have antiferromagnetic ground state. Multiple magnetic transitions are observed in Sm 3Cu 4Sn 4, similar to the behaviour in Ce 3Cu 4Sn 4 and Gd 3Cu 4Sn 4 studied earlier. The Néel temperatures do not follow the trend expected on the basis of de Gennes scaling. The heat capacity data indicate that crystal electric field splitting in these compounds is relatively low.
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