Ferromagnetic instability at the edge of intermediate valence

Preliminary study of structural, thermal and magnetic properties on ferromagnetic CePt1-yRhy (0.40 <= y <= 1) is presented. Like in the recently studied CePd1-xRhx, this new system undergoes a quantum critical behavior between the ferromagnetic CePt (T-C = 6K) and unstable valence CeRh. Regardless the electronic and atomic size similarities between Pt and Pd atoms, signi. cant differences in their respective phase diagrams are observed around the critical points. While CePd1-xRhx shows an asymptopic T-C(x) decrease indicating a smeared quantum phase transition, in CePt1-yRhyTC(y) vanishes beyond y = 0.80 after a plateau starting at y = 0.60 at T-C approximate to 1.8K. Peculiarities of this critical region are compared with other Ce-systems. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.