Evidence for a metamagnetic transition in the heavy Fermion system CeTiGe

Abstract

A recent study of CeTiGe identified this compound as a paramagnetic heavy Fermion system where the full J = 5/2 multiplet is involved in the formation of the ground state. Here we present a preliminary investigation of the dc-magnetization Mdc(H) and of the magnetoresistance ρ(H) of polycrystalline CeTiGe samples in applied magnetic fields up to μ0H = 14 T. The results reveal a pronounced metamagnetic transition at a critical field μ0Hc ≈ 13.5 T at low temperatures, with a step like increase in Mdc(H) of at least 0.6 μB/Ce. The metamagnetic transition leads to a strong decrease in ρ(H). A clear hysteresis in Mdc(H) and ρ(H) indicate that in CeTiGe these metamagnetic features correspond to a true thermodynamic, first order type transition in contrast to the critical behavior observed in the canonical system CeRu2Si2. Measurements at higher temperatures showed a continuous suppression of the metamagnetic transition with increasing T, which vanishes at T ~ 30 K.