Ferromagnetism and structural phase transition in rhombohedral PrI r3

The synthesis, structural, magnetic, thermal, and transport properties are reported for polycrystalline PrIr3. At room temperature PrIr3 displays the rhombohedral space group R-3m and a PuNi3-type structure. At around 70 K a phase transition to a monoclinic C2/m structure is observed and continued cooling reveals temperature independent behavior of the unit cell volume. Further, PrIr3 undergoes a paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition with Tc=7.5K. The temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility follows the Curie-Weiss law with a positive Curie-Weiss temperature, and an effective moment that is close to the theoretical effective moment for a free Pr+3 ion. The structural transition introduces further complexity into the behavior of PuNi3-type materials and highlights the importance of temperature-dependent structural studies to complement physical property measurements in intermetallic compounds.