Magnetic Properties of Polycrystalline PrCu2: A Quadrupolar Transition Material

Abstract

Abstract Polycrystalline PrCu2, which has a quadrupolar transition at 7.7 K, has been investigated using electrical resistivity, magnetization and dilatometry techniques. To study dilution effects, two solid solutions of PrCu2, (Pr0.8La0.2)Cu2, and (Pr0.8Y0.2)Cu2, were also studied. The quadrupolar transition decreases in temperature with doping, while it increases slightly with the magnetic field. In resistivity and thermal expansion, the magnetic contributions show a clear evidence of crystal field excitations. The analysis of both properties provided benchmark values of the Debye temperature and Grüneisen parameters.