Magnetic properties of single-crystalline CeCuGa3

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic properties of single-crystalline CeCuGa3, revealing ferromagnetic order below 4 K and explaining high-temperature behavior through crystal-field effects, with structural variations influencing magnetic symmetry.

Contribution

It provides detailed insights into the magnetic behavior of CeCuGa3 and clarifies the impact of structural disorder on its magnetic order.

Findings

CeCuGa3 exhibits ferromagnetic order below ~4 K.

Magnetic behavior above 4 K is explained by crystal-field splitting.

Structural disorder affects the symmetry and magnetic properties.

Abstract

The magnetic behavior of single-crystalline CeCuGa3 has been investigated. The compound forms in a tetragonal BaAl4-type structure consisting of rare-earth planes separated by Cu-Ga layers. If the Cu-Ga site disorder is reduced, CeCuGa3 adopts the related, likewise tetragonal BaNiSn3-type structure, in which the Ce ion are surrounded by different Cu and Ga layers and the inversion symmetry is lost. In the literature conflicting reports about the magnetic order of CeCuGa3 have been published. Single crystals with the centrosymmetric structure variant exhibit ferromagnetic order below approx. 4 K with a strong planar anisotropy. The magnetic behavior above the transition temperature can be well understood by the crystal-field splitting of the 4f Hund's rule ground-state multiplet of the Ce ions.