Magnetic and related properties of the solid solution CeCuxGa4−x

• Physical properties of the solid solution CeCuxGa4−x are reported.
• Magnetic ordering was found in all compositions.
• Kondo-lattice features in transport properties were evidenced in the Cu-rich samples.
• Composition-dependence of the ordering temperature is presented.

Physical properties of polycrystalline samples of CeCuxGa4−x (x = 0.2–1.4), crystallizing in the tetragonal BaAl4-type structure (space group I 4/mmm), were studied by means of X-ray powder diffraction, magnetization, specific heat, electrical resistivity and magnetoresistivity measurements in wide temperature and magnetic fields ranges. The unit-cell volume of the system was found to decrease with increasing x (in total by about 4%) but the magnetic moments of Ce3+ ions remain localized in the whole x-range studied. The alloys exhibit ferromagnetic order at low temperatures, which manifests itself as distinct and relatively sharp anomalies in all the temperature characteristics measured. The ordering temperature decreases with increasing the Cu content from 5.5(1) K for x = 0.2 down to 1.35(5) K for x = 1.4, and the electrical transport properties of the system show some features characteristic of Kondo lattices.