Simple scaling behavior in the magnetic susceptibility of CeSn3under high pressure

The static magnetic susceptibility $\chi$ of single-crystalline Ce${\mathrm{Sn}}_3$ is measured as a function of temperature $3\le T\le 300$ K and hydrostatic pressure 1 bar $\le P\le 15$ kbar. The temperature and pressure dependence of $\chi$ is shown to be a function of a single characteristic spinfluctuation energy $k{T}_{\mathrm{sf}}$, i.e., $\chi T$ scales with $\frac{T}{T_{\mathrm{sf}}}$. From the magnitude of the increase of $T_{\mathrm{sf}}$ with pressure ($\frac{\partial \ln T_{\mathrm{sf}}}{\partial P}\simeq +\frac{1.4\%}{\mathrm{kbar}}$ or ($\frac{\partial \ln T_{\mathrm{sf}}}{\partial \ln V}\simeq -7.6\mathrm{}$) it can be indirectly inferred within a simple model that an increase in the $4f$ hybridization width $\Delta$, rather than a decrease in the $4f$ binding energy ${\epsilon }_{\mathrm{ex}}$, is the dominant change in the magnetic state under pressure. These results imply that Ce${\mathrm{Sn}}_3$ would be best characterized as a trivalent Ce compound with a rather high spin-fluctuation temperature ($T_{\mathrm{sf}}\simeq 200$ K) rather than as a compound with fractional valence. $\chi \mathrm{}\left(T\right)\mathrm{}$ appears to depend only very weakly on the relative orientation of the magnetic field. The Curie tail in $\chi \mathrm{}\left(T\right)\mathrm{}$ below 20 K is independent of pressure and is, therefore, very likely an impurity effect rather than an intrinsic property of the compound. It is suggested that scaling itself can be used to derive changes in both the valence $v$ and $T_{\mathrm{sf}}$ in a single experiment.