μSR magnetic studies of CeNi1−xCux

Abstract CeNi 0.8 Cu 0.2 and CeNi 0.4 Cu 0.6 were studied by μSR spectroscopy. They showed two magnetic transitions at low temperatures. The upper one leads to a spin-glass-like state which is not a conventional spin frozen state but a magnetically inhomogenous dynamic spin cluster system with the magnetic inhomogeneities being on a scale of a few lattice constants. The lower transition leads into a long-range ordered state with a high degree of local spin disorder. The local field in CeNi 0.4 Cu 0.6 is ∼500 G , in agreement with dipolar field sums for the most likely muon stopping site derived from crystal potential calculations. The ordered moment in CeNi 0.8 Cu 0.2 was estimated to be on the order of 0.1 μ B .