Observation of a minimum in the temperature-dependent electrical resistance above the magnetic-ordering temperature in Gd ₂ PdSi ₃

Abstract

Results on electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance, magnetic Results on\nelectrical resistivity, magnetoresistance, magnetic susceptibility, heat\ncapacity and Gd Mossbauer measurements on a Gd-based intermetallic compound,\nGd$_{2}$PdSi$_{3}$ are reported. A finding of interest is that the resistivity\nunexpectedly shows a well-defined minimum at about 45 K, well above the long\nrange magnetic ordering temperature (21 K), a feature which gets suppressed by\nthe application of a magnetic field. This observation in a Gd alloy presents an\ninteresting scenario. On the basis of our results, we propose electron\nlocalization induced by s-f (or d-f) exchange interaction prior to long range\nmagnetic order as a mechanism for the electrical resistance minimum.\n