Crystallographic, electronic and magnetic studies of Ce4Ni6Al23: a new ternary intermetallic compound in the cerium-nickel-aluminum phase diagram

The Al-rich portion of the ternary Ce-Ni-Al has been investigated and a new ternary phase of composition Ce₄Ni₆Al₂₃ has been found. This compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/m with the cell parameters a=16.042(8), b=4.140(4), c=18.380(8) Å and β=113.24(5)°. The structure has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The local environment of Ni and Ce is close to what is observed in the CeNi₂Al₅ and CeNiAl₄ structures. Band structure calculations, using the tight-binding-linear muffin-tin orbital-atomic-spheres approximation (TB-LMTO-ASA) method, have been performed to understand the electronic structure of Ce₄Ni₆Al₂₃ and the results are discussed in connection with those two other Ce-Ni-Al intermetallic compounds, which possess heavy-fermion behavior. Magnetic and heat capacity measurements have also been measured to analyze the low-temperature magnetic behavior of this new compound.