Magnetic properties of the new rare earth intermetallic compound Pr5AgSn3

A detailed structural characterisation, by means of the powder X-ray diffraction method, of the new Pr5AgSn3 intermetallic compound has been performed and a.c., d.c. magnetic measurements in the 4-300 K temperature range and in applied magnetic fields up to 9 Tesla have been obtained and analysed. The compound orders ferromagnetically below 33.5 K and exhibits a pronounced hysteresis cycle at 5 K with a saturation magnetisation (μsat) of 1.84 μB/Pr atom. In the paramagnetic state the compound follows the Curie-Weiss law with μeff.=3.40 μB and θP=+32 K. The splitting of the peak in the a.c. susceptibility by applied low d.c. fields as well as the temperature dependence of the remanence (Br) and of the coercive field (Hc) are tentatively explained in terms of domain dynamics.