Single-Crystal Neutron Diffraction Study of the Heavy-Electron Superconductor CeNiGe3

Abstract

A single-crystal neutron diffraction study was performed on anomalous antiferromagnetic ordering in the heavy-electron superconductor CeNiGe3. We observed incommensurate magnetic Bragg reflections characterized by the incommensurate propagation vector \(k_{2} = (0,0.41,1/2)\) below the Neel temperature of 5 K, but no significant magnetic reflection with the commensurate propagation vector \(k_{1} = (1,0,0)\), at which another magnetic reflection was observed in a previous neutron diffraction study with a polycrystalline sample. From the single-crystal study, we suggest that the magnetic phase of CeNiGe3 at ambient pressure is characterized only by the incommensurate propagation vector k2.