Magnetic field dependence of the adiabatic susceptibility tensor of powdered cerium magnesium nitrate

The magnetic field dependence of the components of the adiabatic susceptibility tensor of powdered and single-crystal specimens of cerium magnesium nitrate have been measured in the Curie-law limit. The single-crystal results are in good agreement with thermodynamic calculations, while the powdered results show deviations at higher fields. The smallness of the field dependence of the perpendicular component of the susceptibility tensor suggests its use in thermometry at low temperatures in finite magnetic fields. The coefficient in the asymptotic expression for the heat capacity CM=bT2 is found to be bR=6.16±0.1 (mK)2.