MAGNETIC-BEHAVIOR OF RPDSB (R = RARE-EARTH) COMPOUNDS

Magnetic susceptibility measurements have been carried out on the equiatomic ternary compounds, RPdSb (R = La to Tm), in the temperature range of 4.2-300 K and in various applied fields between 500 Oe and 6 kOe. The compound CePdSb orders ferromagnetically with ordering temperature T(M) of about 17 K while NdPdSb, SmPdSb, EuPdSb and GdPdSb order antiferromagnetically with Neel temperature T(N) of 11, 18, 13 and 17 K respectively. All other compounds are paramagnetic in the temperature range investigated. The ordering temperatures of these compounds do not follow De Gennes scaling. The compound NdPdSb shows a metamagnetic transition at an applied field of congruent-to 2 kOe at 4.2 K. The electrical resistivity of CePdSb shows a broad maximum around 150 K and an In(T) behavior at high temperatures, suggesting the presence of crystalline fields and Kondo effect.