# Magnetically Ordered State and Crystalline-Electric-Field Effects in SmBe$_{13}$

## TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic and electronic properties of SmBe$_{13}$, revealing localized 4f electrons, a specific crystalline-electric-field ground state, and antiferromagnetic ordering at low temperatures.

## Contribution

It provides detailed experimental and theoretical analysis of SmBe$_{13}$'s magnetic structure, CEF scheme, and electron localization, which were previously not well understood.

## Key findings

- SmBe$_{13}$ exhibits weak hybridization with no Kondo behavior.
- The CEF ground state is a $b4$ quartet with a $b7$ doublet excited state at ~90 K.
- Magnetic order occurs at $T_M \u223c$ 8.3 K with antiferromagnetic characteristics.

## Abstract

The physical properties of single-crystalline SmBe$_{13}$ with a NaZn$_{13}$-type cubic structure have been studied by electrical resistivity ($\rho$), specific heat ($C$), and magnetization ($M$) measurements in magnetic fields of up to 9 T. The temperature ($T$) dependence of $\rho$ shows normal metallic behavior without showing the Kondo -ln$T$ behavior, suggesting the weak hybridization effect in this system. Analyses of the temperature dependence of $C$ suggest that the Sm ions of this compound are trivalent and that the crystalline-electric-field (CEF) ground state is a $\Gamma_8$ quartet with a first-excited state of a $\Gamma_7$ doublet located at the energy scale of $\sim$ 90 K. Mean-field calculations based on the suggested CEF level scheme can reasonably well reproduce the $T$ dependence of magnetic susceptibility ($\chi$) below $\sim$ 70 K. These results in the paramagnetic state strongly indicate that the 4$f$ electrons are well localized with the Sm$^{3+}$ configuration. At low temperatures, the 4$f$ electrons undergo a magnetic order at $T_{\rm M}$ $\sim$ 8.3 K, where $\chi$($T$) shows an antiferromagnetic-like cusp anomaly. From the positive Curie--Weiss temperature obtained from the mean-field calculations and from a constructed magnetic phase diagram with multiple regions, we discussed the magnetic structure of SmBe$_{13}$ below $T_{\rm M}$, by comparing with other isostructural MBe$_{13}$ compounds showing helical-magnetic ordering.