Transport properties of Kondo lattice CeB6

We have measured the resistance, thermoelectric power (TEP), and magnetoresistance (MR) of CeB6 at liquid-helium temperatures. CeB6, a dense Kondo material, has a resistivity that varies as −log T from 4 K to a minimum near 150 K. Below this a maximum occurs at 3.5 K and the antiferromagnetic order below TN=2.4 K is seen as a sudden change in the slope of the resistivity at TN. In the TEP data an extraordinary, giant peak is observed at 9.5 K and a much smaller peak appears at 4.3 K. Again a change in slope of TEP at 2.4 K is associated with TN. The TEP becomes negative below 2.1 K. Recent theoretical investigations, based on the Kondo lattice model and s-f hybridization even without taking into account any long-range magnetic order, can explain qualitatively the behavior of the low-temperature resistivity (T<4 K) and the giant peak in the TEP data. The MR is found to be negative and has a field dependence of H2 in phase I with an inverse temperature dependence. At 4.2 K a phase change that has been observed previously is seen at 1.6 T in the MR. Above 4.2 K the transverse and the longitudinal MR are the same, which suggests that the system is isotropic in the high-temperature phase.