Theoretical studies on cerium nickel aluminides: polar intermetallics with heavy fermion behavior

摘要

The electronic structures of Ce4Ni6Al23, CeNiAl4, CeNi2Al5, CeNiAl and CeNi4Al have been calculated using the TB-LMTO-ASA (tight-binding, linear muffin-tin orbital, atomic-spheres approximation) approach to probe relationships between chemical bonding and physical properties in this series of intermetallic compounds. Analysis from crystal orbital Hamilton populations (COHP) reveal that the Al-rich compounds may be considered as "polar intermetallic" because the Fermi level coincides to the separation of bonding and antibonding states of the Ni-Al framework. On the other hand, although the densities of states (DOS) of CeNiAl suggest "polar intermetallic" behavior, the bonding is more complex. Finally, the Ni-rich example, CeNi4Al, has significant Ni-3d character at the Fermi level. The results of these calculations are also discussed in connection with heavy fermion or possible valence fluctuation behavior observed for some of these intermetallic compounds: those showing exceptional properties also exhibit significant "lattice covalency" between Ce and the Ni-Al nets. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [References: 32]