Thermodynamic and electrical transport properties of single-crystalline U2Cu4As5

High-quality single crystals of U2Cu4As5 were investigated by means of magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, specific heat, electrical resistivity, magnetoresistivity and Hall effect measurements, performed in wide ranges of temperature and magnetic field. The results revealed an antiferromagnetic ordering below TN=190K and very strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy. In the paramagnetic state, the charge transport is driven by Kondo spin-flip scattering. In the ordered region, it is governed by electron–magnon and electron–electron scattering processes with the latter ones being dominant at the lowest temperatures. The uniaxial character of the magnetic structure of U2Cu4As5 manifests itself in the temperature variations of the magnetic susceptibility and the electrical resistivity as well as in the characteristic response to the applied magnetic field.