Local moment ferromagnetism in CeRu2Ga2B

Magnetization, specific heat, and electrical resistivity measurements for polycrystalline specimens of CeRu2Ga2B reveal local moment ferromagnetic order at a Curie temperature TC = 16.3 K. Specific heat measurements show that the phase transition is second order and the low temperature behavior indicates that the Ce f-electron states do not hybridize strongly with the conduction electron states. Electrical resistivity measurements demonstrate large spin disorder scattering of conduction electrons for T ≥ TC. Results for a single crystal are also reported, where TC = 15.4 K. While results for the polycrystal and single crystal specimens are qualitatively similar, the differences between them suggest that crystalline disorder plays a role in how the magnetism develops. (paper)