Magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, and magnetoresistance measurements have been made on RAuAl (R=La, Ce, and Nd) compounds. These reveal that CeAuAl is an antiferromagnetic compound with a Néel temperature of ∼3.8 K. Its resistivity shows a shallow minimum at ∼20 K and a ln(T) behavior below this temperature. These features suggest a Kondo-lattice behavior in CeAuAl. The compound LaAuAl is metallic down to 2 K while NdAuAl is a ferromagnet with a Curie temperature of ∼10 K. The susceptibility of CeAuAl deviates from Curie-Weiss behavior below 70 K and this has been analyzed in terms of crystal-field effects.

• Received 31 August 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.51.5858