The Effect of Ce Dilution on the Ferromagnetic Ordering in CeAuGe

Transport and thermodynamic properties of the well-ordered hexagonal CeAuGe compound have been studied. This compound is known to order ferromagnetically at TC = 10 K with well-de ned anomalies in magnetic susceptibility χ(T ), electrical resistivity ρ(T ) and speci c heat Cp(T ) characterising the phase transition. The location of TC has been observed to be unstable and enhanced even in moderate applied magnetic elds. However, the dilution of magnetic species, Ce, with the non-f electron element, La, is shown in this work to achieve a continuous suppression of TC to 0 K. The integrity of the space group and the details of the unit cell occupation are retained throughout the substitution series, as is the high-temperature localized Ce-e ective magnetic moment μeff = 2.54 μB/(mol Ce). Our studies of physical properties down to 0.05 K show a quantum critical form of nonFermi liquid behaviour, characterised by a logarithmic divergence in Cp(T )/T data in the very dilute Ce content.