CePd2Al8 - A ferromagnetic Kondo lattice with new type of crystal structure

The novel cerium aluminide CePd2Al8 was investigated by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction and low-temperature magnetic, electrical transport and heat capacity measurements. The compound is found to crystallize with a monoclinic structure of its own type with a single crystallographic position for Ce atoms in the unit cell. Due to magnetic moments carried on Ce3+ ions, it exhibits Curie-Weiss paramagnetic behavior and long-range ferromagnetic ordering below TC = 9.5 K. In the entire temperature range studied, the physical properties of CePd2Al8 are influenced by Kondo interactions with an energy scale close to TC.