Crystal structure and low-temperature properties of a novel cerium stannide Ce3RuSn6

A novel ternary compound Ce 3 RuSn 6 was synthesized as a single phase polycrystalline alloy. Its crystal structure was solved by direct methods and refined from the single crystal X-ray diffraction data down to R1 = 0.038 for 1021 independent reflections with I > 2σ(I) and 36 variable parameters. The compound crystallizes with an orthorhombic unit cell of the Yb 3 CoSn 6 type (space group Cmcm , lattice parameters: a = 4.6744 (4), b = 16.8542 (15), c = 13.3227 (12) A), in which Ce atoms occupy two independent crystallographic sites. Physical behavior in Ce 3 RuSn 6 was studied by means of magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity and heat capacity measurements, performed down to 0.4 K in magnetic fields up to 9 T. The compound exhibits ferromagnetic ordering below T C = 3 K. Its thermodynamic and electrical transport properties in the paramagnetic and ordered states are strongly influenced by Kondo effect with the characteristic temperature very close to T C .