Kondo effect and impurity-impurity interaction in (La,Ce)B6 alloys

Measurements of the magnetic susceptibility between 0.03 and 300 K and of the magnetization between 0.05 and 10K for magnetic fields up to 60kOe have been used to investigate effects from the interaction between the conduction electrons and local magnetic moments in (La_1–x Ce _x )B₆ alloys (0.0007x0.10). For Ce concentrationsx<0.006 the data show Kondo-type single impurity behavior at low temperatures with a transition from a magnetic to a non-magnetic regime of the Ce ions. In the magnetic regime the impurity susceptibility follows a Curie-Weiss law, and in the non-magnetic regime it varies withT ². An external magnetic field gradually restores the free-ion behavior of the Ce impurities. For more concentrated alloys interactions between the impurities are observed. The RKKY interaction strength derived is more than two orders of magnitude smaller than in the Kondo systemCuFe. Values of thes–f exchange integral,J, estimated from both the Kondo effect and the RKKY interactions are in good agreement. The relatively high Kondo temperature, in spite of a smallJ, can be explained by a density-of-states argument. The influence of crystal field excitation on the susceptibility is also discussed.