Resistive Behavior in the Singlet-Ground-State SystemLa1−xPrxSn3

It is shown that the resistive behavior of Pr${\mathrm{Sn}}_3$, namely a local maximum followed by a rather abrupt drop at low temperatures, is not solely due to the presence of magnetic ordering. This result is established by the resistive behavior of ${\mathrm{La}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Pr}}_x{\mathrm{Sn}}_3$ where the salient resistive features persist even to values of $x$ for which $T_{\mathrm{N}}$ has been depressed to zero. An explanation in terms of inelastic scattering from crystalline-electric-field-split ion levels is presented.