Magnetic behavior of the alloys CeCu<SUB>y</SUB>Ga<SUB>4−y</SUB> and Ce<SUB>1−x</SUB>La<SUB>x</SUB>CuGa<SUB>3</SUB>

The results of magnetic susceptibility (x), electrical resistivity (&#961;) and heat-capacity (C) measurements of the alloys CeCuyGa4&#8722;y (y=0.5, 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5) and Ce1&#8722;xLaxCuGa3 (x=0.2 and 0.9), crystallizing in the BaAl4-type tetragonal structure, are reported. The Kondo effect tends to dominate with increasing y. All the data for the y=0.5 alloy are consistent with the onset of ferromagnetic ordering at 6 K. For y=1.0 and 1.25, though &#961; gradually drops below 6 K, the C data do not show the existence of magnetic ordering above 2 K; presumably, for y=1.0, 1.25 and 1.5, long-range magnetic ordering sets in below 2 K. Above all, C tends to increase with decreasing temperature before the onset of long range magnetic ordering and the values of C/T per Ce mol are considerably diminished for x=0.9. It is proposed that this C/T enhancement lies in the magnetic precursor effects and not on the heavy-fermion behaviour