Doping effects on the magnetic properties of NdRhIn5 intermetallic antiferromagnet

We report temperature dependent heat capacity and magnetization measurements on single crystals of Nd1-xLaxRhIn5Nd1-xLaxRhIn5 (x=0.15x=0.15, 0.4 and 0.5) and NdRhIn5-xSnxNdRhIn5-xSnx (x=0.08x=0.08, 0.12 and 0.24). NdRhIn5 is an antiferromagnetic (AFM) compound with TN≈TN≈ 11 K which crystallizes in the same layered tetragonal structure of the CeMIn5 family (M=RhM=Rh, Co and Ir), where different ground states can be found by tuning the interplay among different microscopic interactions such as the Kondo effect, crystal field (CEF) effects and the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yoshida (RKKY) magnetic interaction. Here, we explore the evolution of the AFM correlations in this Nd-based (non-Kondo) compound while perturbing the RKKY exchange by using two different substitutions: (i) replacing Nd3+Nd3+ by non-magnetic La3+La3+ within NdIn3 atomic planes (dilution) and (ii) substituting In by Sn in the In-sites (electronic tuning). For both types of doping, our results show the suppression of the AFM state as the La- or Sn-content is increased. This doping induced suppression of the AFM order is discussed considering the effects of dilution and effects in the tetragonal CEF using a mean-field model applied to the observed data. Our results are compared to the properties of other members of the RRhIn5 family considering the role of dimensionality in the magnetic interactions.