Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility of<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>β</mml:mi></mml:math>-cerium from 2 to 300 K

Abstract

The electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility of allotropically pure $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Ce and $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-Ce and some two-phase ($\ensuremath{\alpha}+\ensuremath{\beta}$ or $\ensuremath{\beta}+\ensuremath{\gamma}$) samples, which were predominantly $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Ce, were measured from 2 to 300 K. Because $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Ce transforms to $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-Ce between 15 and 50 K, several unusual experimental techniques were used to obtain reliable data. Our results show that the electrical resistivity of $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Ce remains unusually large, &gt; 50 \ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\Omega}cm down to 40 K and below this temperature it drops an order of magnitude. The magnetic-susceptibility data show that $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Ce obeys the Curie-Weiss law down to near its N\'eel temperature, \ensuremath{\sim} 12.5 K. Low-field susceptibility data, 800 Oe, show a N\'eel temperature at 12.5 K and that the magnetic susceptibility near the ordering temperatures decreases with increasing field. X-ray metallographic data indicate that when $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Ce transforms to $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-Ce the initial growth occurs at the surface and grows inward. The unusual temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity of $\ensuremath{\beta}$-Ce could not be explained by several existing models (band-spin fluctuation or crystalline field) which have been used to explain large increases in the resistivity for other materials. However, a recently developed model based on Kondo scattering which is quenched by magnetic ordering appears to account for the observed results.