Thermal, magnetic and electronic properties of non-centrosymmetric YbPt2B

Abstract

Ternary YbPt2B crystallizes in the non-centrosymmetric hexagonal CePt2B-type structure (space group P6222). Electrical resistivity, specific heat and magnetic measurements reveal a magnetic instability at 5.6 K. Furthermore, a spin-reorientation of presumably a ferromagnetic type occurs around 1.5 K. The behaviour at low temperature is governed by a rather weak Kondo effect, TK ≤ 1 K, in the presence of strong crystalline electric field splitting, with a doublet ground state. Besides, the complex magnetic behaviour presumably results from a Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction triggered by the absence of inversion symmetry in the crystal structure. Scaling according to the de Gennes factor traces back magnetic ordering in YbPt2B to the Rudermann–Kittel–Kasuya–Yoshida (RKKY) interaction and the smooth evolution of the lattice constants and the unit cell volume of REPt2B (RE = rare earths) refers to the 4f13 electronic configuration of Yb in YbPt2B.