aInstitute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smoluchowskiego 17, 60-179 Poznań, Poland
bTrzebiatowski Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1410, 50-950 Wrocław, Poland
Abstract:
The studies of the thermoelectric power and band structure calculations for CeNi4Si are reported. These studied are supported by magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, specific heat and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy measurements. CeNi4Si is paramagnetic down to 2 K and follows the Curie–Weiss law with μeff = 0.52μB/f.u. and the paramagnetic Curie temperature θP = −2 K. This effective paramagnetic moment is lower than the free Ce3+ value. The obtained values for the f occupancy nf and for the coupling Δ of the f level with the conduction states are in good agreement with the values found for mixed valence compounds. Below the Fermi energy the total density of states contains mainly the d states of Ni atoms. The narrow peaks of the f states of Ce atoms were found above the Fermi level. CeNi4Si is characterized by γ = 16 mJ mol−1 K−2 and θD = 335 K.