Transport and thermodynamic properties of CePt3X intermetallics

A series of CePt3X intermetallics (X=SiX=Si, Al, Ge, B) has been synthesized, characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and microprobe analysis. CePt3Si and CePt3B compounds crystallize in a non-centrosymmetric CePt3B-type structure with a space group P 4 mm, while the diffraction patterns of CePt3Al and CePt3Ge show pronounced splitting of diffraction lines indicating a disordered CePt3B-type structure or rather a new crystallographic structure with a lower symmetry. The results of specific heat and electrical resistivity measurements are discussed. While the heavy fermion superconductivity coexists with the long-range antiferromagnetic ordering in CePt3Si, the other compounds show a rather complex magnetic ordering at low temperatures; however, no sign of superconductivity has been observed down to 0.4 K.