Abstract
Magnetic properties of the intermetallic compound U2Fe3Ge were studied on a single crystal. The compound crystallizes in the hexagonal Mg2Cu3Si structure, an ordered variant of the MgZn2 Laves structure (C14).
U2Fe3Ge displays ferromagnetic order below the Curie temperature TC = 55 K and presents an exception to the Hill rule, as the nearest inter-uranium distances do not exceed 3.2 Å. Magnetic moments lie in the basal plane of the hexagonal lattice, with the spontaneous magnetic moment Ms = 1.0 μB/f.u. at T = 2 K.
No anisotropy within the basal plane is detected. In contrast to typical U-based intermetallics, U2Fe3Ge exhibits very low magnetic anisotropy, whose field does not exceed 10 T.
The dominance of U in the magnetism of U2Fe3Ge is suggested by the 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy study, which indicates very low or even zero Fe moments. Electronic structure calculations are in agreement with the observed easy-plane anisotropy but fail to explain the lack of an Fe contribution to the magnetism of U2Fe3Ge.