Structure and electrical resistivity of the heavy fermion compound CeCu₅Au

Abstract

The crystal structure of CeCu 5 Au determined at room temperature is orthorhombic with space group Pnma (No. 62). The lattice constants are a=8.2455 (4), b= 5.0866 (3) and c=10.3659 (5) A with V=434.76 (7) A 3 and four formula units per unit cell. Four-circle diffractometry shows that CeCu 5 Au is an ordered intermetallic phase, isomorphous with CeCu 6 , with the Au atoms exclusively occupying the Cu(2) positions of the CeCu 6 structure. Measurements of the electrical resistivity of CeCu 5 Au at low temperatures yield a residual resistivity smaller than that of single crystals of CeCu 5.5 Au 0.5 by a factor of four, in line with the fact that CeCu 5 Au is a stoichiometric compound