Magnetic, electrical transport, and thermal properties of a uranium intermetallic compound UCu5In - art. no. 144401

A ternary intermetallic compound UCu5In has been studied by means of magnet ization, electrical resistivity, magnetoresistivity, thermopower, thermal c onductivity, heat-capacity, and thermal-expansion measurements. The experim ental findings reveal UCu5In to be antiferromagnetically ordered (T-N=25 K) dense Kondo system (T-K=24 K) with a considerable enhancement of the effec tive mass of conduction electrons at low temperatures, yielding the Sommerf eld coefficient gamma (0) of about 240 mU(mole K-2). Although the electrica l resistivity and the thermopower of UCu5In shows features characteristic o f interplay of Kondo and crystal-field effects, the magnetoresistivity does not exhibit behavior expected for Kondo systems being large and positive e ven well above T-N. Consistent explanation of the latter results is attempt ed by considering the role of magnetic precursor effects and/or interfaceli ke effects due to the presence of nonmagnetic layers.