An unusual hollow cylindrical Fermi surface of a quasi-two-dimensional compound CeAgSb2

Abstract We have carried out the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) experiment, together with electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, magnetization and specific heat experiments on a high-quality single-crystal CeAgSb2, which has a small net ferromagnetic moment of 0.4 μB per Ce atom. The bulk magnetic properties are well explained by the crystalline electric field scheme. On the other hand, large dHvA frequencies of 108 Oe, which correspond to cylindrical Fermi surfaces, were detected by the dHvA measurement for the magnetic field along the tetragonal [001] direction, indicating the quasi-two-dimensional electronic structure. The dHvA branches of CeAgSb2 are highly different from those with small dHvA frequencies of 107 Oe for the reference compounds LaAgSb2 and YAgSb2 which exhibit a semimetallic character. The dHvA results have been compared with the results of the energy band calculations. It was concluded that the 4f electron is mainly localized and that the Fermi surface of CeAgSb2 is similar to that of LaAgSb2, but it is slightly enlarged so as to form the large orbits along a hollow cylindrical Fermi surface.