In this work we combine magnetization, pressure dependent electrical resistivity, heat capacity, ${}^{63}\mathrm{Cu}$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and x-ray resonant magnetic scattering experiments to investigate the physical properties of the intermetallic ${\mathrm{CeCuBi}}_2$ compound. Our single crystals show an antiferromagnetic ordering at $T_{\mathrm{N}}\simeq 16$ K and the magnetic properties indicate that this compound is an Ising antiferromagnet. In particular, the low temperature magnetization data revealed a spin-flop transition at $T=5$ K when magnetic fields of about $5.5$ T are applied along the $c$ axis. Moreover, the x-ray magnetic diffraction data below $T_{\mathrm{N}}$ revealed a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with propagation wave vector $\left(00\frac{1}{2}\right)$ with the ${\mathrm{Ce}}^{3+}$ moments oriented along the $c$ axis. Furthermore, our heat capacity, pressure dependent resistivity, and temperature dependent ${}^{63}\mathrm{Cu}$ NMR data suggest that ${\mathrm{CeCuBi}}_2$ exhibits a weak heavy fermion behavior with strongly localized ${\mathrm{Ce}}^{3+}$ $4f$ electrons. We thus discuss a scenario in which both the anisotropic magnetic interactions between the ${\mathrm{Ce}}^{3+}$ ions and the tetragonal crystalline electric field effects are taking into account in ${\mathrm{CeCuBi}}_2$.

• Received 7 July 2014
• Revised 25 November 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.235120