Reinvestigation of the electrical and magnetic properties of the ternary germanide CeCoGe

CeCoGe, crystallizing in the tetragonal CeFeSi-type crystal structure, was studied by means of magnetization, electrical resistivity and neutron powder diffraction. The compound orders antiferromagnetically at TN=5.0(2) K. The magnetic structure is described by ferromagnetic (001) planes of Ce atoms, antiferromagnetically stacked along the c-axis with the sequence (+−+−). The cerium magnetic moments lie in the basal plane with a small value of μCe=0.38(5)μB at 1.5 K. This original structure is discussed in relation to those previously reported for other isotypic REMX compounds (RE=rare earth, M=Fe, Co, Ru and X=Si, Ge).