ANTIFERROMAGNETISM AND MASS-ENHANCED BEHAVIOR IN CE2CUSI3

Temperature dependences of the specific heat, electrical resistivity a nd magnetic susceptibility of single-phased AlB2-type compound Ce2CuSi 3 as well as its nonmagnetic counterpart La2CuSi3 are reported. La2CuS i3 is Pauli paramagnetic whereas Ce2CuSi3 shows complex magnetic prope rties. An antiferromagnetic ordering at 2.1 K is observed by low field (50 Oe) susceptibility measurement on Ce2CuSi3. Magnetic susceptibili ty measured under 2000 Oe, however, appears to be saturated below 2.1 K. Heat capacity measurement down to 4.5K reveals an upturn in C(T) of Ce2CuSi3 which could be correlated with magnetic transition at 2.1K. The electronic specific heat in Ce2CuSi3 is obtained, indicating an en hanced temperature-independent gamma of 76 mJ K-2 mol(-1) Ce. A negati ve contribution to the enhanced gamma that could be due to spin fluctu ation, is observed. The resistivity data of Ce2CuSi3 shows the typical behavior of a Kondo compound, which might be responsible for the enha nced effective mass. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd