Field-induced magnetic transitions and pressure-induced magnetic instability in CePdAl

The magnetization and electrical resistivity of antiferromagnetic CePdAl were measured at 0.5 K in steady fields up to 10 T along the c-axis. Three metamagnetic transitions were found at B-cl = 3.2 T, B-c2 = 3.4 T and B-c3 = 4.0 T, which originate from geometrical frustrations. The resistivity shows a large value just after the first and second transitions. The temperature dependences of the susceptibility, resistivity and specific heat were measured under high pressures up to 1.2 GPa. By applying pressure, the Neel temperature is abruptly decreased and becomes zero at P-c = 0.95 GPa. In the vicinity of P-c the non-Fermiliquid behavior is observed, which suggests the existence of critical 2D fluctuations. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.