Field suppression of the modulated phase of Ce2Pd2Sn

Abstract

Low temperature magnetic () and thermal () properties of the intermetallic compound Ce2Pd2Sn have been investigated at zero and different magnetic fields. Two transitions were recognized at and , with latter nearly coinciding with the extrapolated Curie–Weiss temperature . The Curie factor evaluated from , is . The positive value of , the triangular coordination of the magnetic (Ce) atoms and the weak effect of applied magnetic field, reveal that cannot be considered as a canonic antiferromagnetic transition like claimed in the literature. measurements under moderate magnetic fields () show increasing while is practically not affected. Both transition merge in a critical point at for , where the intermediate phase is suppressed. At , the cusp of a first order transition is observed in . According to the proposed ferromagnetic ground state, it is followed by a dependence, with a gap of anisotropy .