EVIDENCE FOR PARAMAGNETIC SCATTERING FROM NONMAGNETIC CE SITES IN THECOMPOUND CE2SN5

We report the observation of a broad, high-energy single-ion spectral response originating from the ''nonmagnetic'' Ce sites (Ce-1) in the c ompound Ce2Sn5, which supplements earlier findings of two sharp low-en ergy (<20 meV) crystal-field excitations from the ''magnetic'' Ce site s (Ce-II). This provides clear microscopic evidence for the existence of different paramagnetic states of Ce ions on inequivalent crystallog raphic Ce sites in a compound as well as the dominant role of the loca l environment in determining their basic character. We have also obser ved two distinct, high-energy spin-orbit excitations, viz. a well defi ned peak around similar to 274(+/- 3) meV associated, as expected, wit h the magnetic Ce-II atoms and a broad hump centered on similar to 350 (+/- 10) meV arising, quite plausibly, from the nonmagnetic Ce-I sites which suggests that the characteristic energy T-K of the F-2(7/2) spi n-orbit state of Ce-I ion is similar to 75(+/- 10) meV, compared with T-K similar to 36 (+/- 3) meV for its (F-2(5/2)) ground state.