Evolution of the magnetic properties along the RCuBi2 (R=Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd, Sm) series of intermetallic compounds

In this paper, the evolution of the magnetic properties along the series of intermetallic compounds RCuBi2 (R Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd, Sm) is discussed. These compounds crystallize in a tetragonal ZrCuSi2 (P4/nmm) structure, and our single crystals of RCuBi2 grown from Bi-flux show no evidence for Cu-deficiency {[}Ye et al., Acta Crystallogr. C 52, 1325 (1996)] as previously reported for R Ce. For R Ce, Pr, Gd, and Sm, we found an antiferromagnetic ordering at T-N similar to 16 K, 4.2 K, 13.6 K, and 4.9 K, respectively. For R Nd, we saw no evidence for a magnetic phase transition down to T = 2K. These values of TN clearly show a dramatic breakdown of the De Gennes factor in this series. We discuss our data taken into account the tetragonal crystalline electrical field and the anisotropic Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida magnetic interaction between the R-ions in this family of compounds. VC 2014 AIP Publishing LLC. (AU)