Low-temperature physical behavior in a novel compound CePtIn4

Single crystals of a novel ternary cerium indide CePtIn4 were grown by self-flux method and studied by means of X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity and electrical resistivity measurements, carried out in wide ranges of temperature and magnetic field strength. The compound was found to crystallize with an orthorhombic crystal structure of the YNiAl4-type. It exhibits metallic conductivity and Curie-Weiss paramagnetism due to Ce3+ ions with well localized 4f-electrons. At TN = 1.65 K, CePtIn4 orders antiferromagnetically, possibly with a non-trivial magnetic structure. No superconductivity emerges down to 50 mK. Remarkably, the observed thermodynamic and electrical transport behavior in this compound does not give any hint at strong electronic correlations, typical for cerium intermetallics.