Magnetic, thermodynamic, and electrical transport properties of ternary equiatomic ytterbium compounds YbTM (T=transition metal, M=Sn and Bi)

Physical behavior of several YbTM intermetallics has been studied by means of x-ray powder diffraction, magnetization, dc magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, and electrical resistivity measurements. The compounds YbTBi with T = Cu, Ag, An and YbTSn with T = Ag, Au, Zn were shown to be nonmagnetic due to the presence of divalent ytterbium ions. The bismuthide YbPdBi as well as the stannides YbRhSn and YbPtSn were found to exhibit localized magnetism of almost trivalent Yb ions. The electrical behavior of these three phases is characteristic of dense Kondo systems, and their low-temperature specific heat data indicate a possible heavy fermion ground state. [S0163-1829(99)12525-6].