Investigation of the Crystal Field in PrNi₅

Abstract

Abstract Inelastic slow‐neutron scattering experiments are made on polycrystalline samples of intermetallic compounds PrNi 5 and LaNi 5 over the temperature range 8 to 295 K. The peaks of the inelastic magnetic‐neutron—rare‐earth‐ion scattering resulting from the splitting of the ion ground state into a number of levels by the crystal electric field (CEF) of hexagonal symmetry are identified by temperature and angular dependence of resonance intensities and by comparing PrNi 5 spectra with those of LaNi 5 . On the basis of an effective point charge model for the CEF Hamiltonian with four variable parameters, calculations are made and CEF level scheme is restored. Magnetic contributions to the temperature dependence of heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility of PrNi 5 are calculated and compared with available experimental data.