Pressure and field tuning in the heavy fermion ferromagnet CeAgSb 2

Abstract

The intermetallic compound CeAgSb2 is an unusual example of a ferromagnetically ordered heavy fermion system. Ferromagnetism sets in below the Curie temperature Tc=9.6 K at ambient pressure. We have investigated the magnetisation of CeAgSb2 under applied hydrostatic pressure of up to 45 kbar. Tc is suppressed rapidly, and at pressures > 35 kbar it is replaced by an unidentified ordered phase, possibly antiferromagnetism. The ordered magnetic moment in CeAgSb2 is aligned along the c-axis. We investigate the effect of transverse field tuning on Tc, and show that magnetic order at low temperature is suppressed by in-plane fields exceeding about 3 T. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.