ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE OF CESN3

Based on an itinerant-electron model for the 4f electrons, the energy band structure is calculated for CeSn3, known to be the heavy-electron system having the Kondo temperature of about 200 K, by a self-consistent relativistic APW method with the ex-change and correlation potential in the local-density approximation. An itinerant-elec-tron model assures that this compound is a compensated metal. The large, nearly spherical hole sheet of the Fermi surface explains one of the major frequency branches of the de Haas-van Alphen effect of the order 107 Oe. The electron sheet is essentially spherical but highly distorted by the strong 4f-Sn 5p hybridization. It explains clearly origins of all other major frequency branches. These results support the view that the 4f electrons in the heavy-electron Ce compounds should be treated by an itinerant-electron picture. © 1990, THE PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN. All rights reserved.