Physical properties of the uranium ternary compounds U3 Bi4 M3 (M=Ni,Rh)

We report the properties of two new isostructural compounds, U3 Bi4 Ni3 and U3 Bi4 Rh3. The first of these compounds is nonmetallic, and the second is a nearly ferromagnetic metal, both as anticipated from their electron count relative to other U-based members of the larger 3-4-3 family. For U3 Bi4 Rh3, a logarithmic increase in C/T below 3 K, a resistivity proportional to T4/3, and the recovery of Fermi-liquid behavior in both properties with applied fields greater than 3 T, suggest that U3 Bi4 Rh3 may be a new example of a material displaying ferromagnetic quantum criticality.