Magnetic properties of the cerium monochalcogenides

Single crystals of CeS, CeSe and CeTe have been investigated by means of measurements of the specific heat, the thermal expansion, the magnetic susceptibility and the magnetization at low temperatures. Crystal-field effects on some of these properties are used to derive the crystal-field splitting of the 4f electron ground state. It is found that chemical composition and crystal perfection strongly influence the magnetic properties of these compounds.