Residual short-range order in the heavy fermion compound CeInCu2

By using the X-ray diffraction technique, residual short-range order was detected in CeInCu(2), cerium dicopper indium, which is known to be a heavy fermion compound. In spite of the long-range order of this substance, diffuse scattering exhibiting short-range order was observed at room temperature. The correlation parameters obtained showed that an incorrectly occupied lattice site has a tendency to gather atoms of different species at the neighboring sites along the <111> directions. Thus, the disordered region would form a cluster composed of several disordered atoms. Furthermore, a chain-type correlation which has a period of 20-23 Å along the same directions was indicated. The superstructure-like feature of the disordered atoms hardly increases the residual resistivity. It is consistent with the behavior of the residual resistivity under high pressure.