Anisotropic behavior in the CeRhSn single crystal

We report on magnetization, magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, electrical resistivity and thermal expansion measurements performed on a CeRhSn single crystal at temperatures between 2 and 300 K and in magnetic fields up to 14 T. No indication of magnetic ordering in low-temperature susceptibility, specific heat and resistivity was observed. Besides the maximum in the temperature dependence of resistivity for current along the a-axis no indication for the previously reported Ce-ion valence fluctuations was found in experimental data. In particular, the temperature dependence of susceptibility is monotonous and the magnetic specific heat above 20 K is negligible. The linear thermal expansion is isotropic and has the character usual for normal metal. Based on these results we propose for CeRhSn an alternative scenario considering that the Ce 4f-electrons are itinerant. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.