Crystal field effects in the intermetallic RNi3Ga9 (R=Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er) compounds

Abstract

In this paper, we report temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, and heat-capacity experiments in the family of intermetallic compounds RNi3Ga9 (R = Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er). Single-crystalline samples were grown using Ga self-flux method. These materials crystallize in a trigonal ErNi3Al9-type structure with space group R32. They all order antiferromagnetically with TN<20K. The anisotropic magnetic susceptibility presents large values of the ratio χeasy/χhard indicating strong crystalline electric-field (CEF) effects. The evolution of the crystal-field scheme for each R was analyzed in detail by using a spin model including anisotropic nearest-neighbor Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction and the trigonal CEF Hamiltonian. Our analysis allows one to understand the distinct direction of the ordered moments along the series - the Tb-, Dy-, and Ho-based compounds have the ordered magnetic moments in the easy ab plane and the Er sample magnetization easy axis is along the ĉ direction.