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PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS 7, 074405 (2023)

Evidence of a first-order magnetic transition in HoPtSn

Hong-Xiong Liu () ,1,2 Shan-Shan Miao (),1 Hai L. Feng () ,1,2,3,* and You-Guo Shi ()1,2,3,†
1
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
2
Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
3
Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, China

(Received 15 March 2023; revised 20 April 2023; accepted 5 May 2023; published 21 July 2023)

Single crystals of HoPtSn and its nonmagnetic analog LuPtSn are grown by flux method. They crystallize
in the Fe2 P-type hexagonal structure with a distorted kagome lattice of rare-earth ions. Magnetic susceptibility
measurements confirm that HoPtSn exhibits two antiferromagnetic transitions at 7.3 and 2.4 K, consistent with
previous neutron-diffraction studies. Our detailed magnetic and electrical studies indicate that the transition at
2.4 K is a first-order magnetic transition, which is supported by the hysteresis loops observed in the temperature-
dependent magnetic susceptibility and resistivity curves. In the case of H ||c, the magnetic states of HoPtSn are
sensitive to applied magnetic fields. The first-order magnetic transition can also be induced by magnetic fields,
which is evidenced by the hysteresis loops observed from the isothermal magnetization and magnetoresistance
curves. The magnetic phase diagram is depicted for the case of H ||c. In the case of H ⊥c, the antiferromagnetic
transitions are relatively robust against magnetic fields up to 9 T.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.074405

I. INTRODUCTION romagnetic states AFM-I (a collinear AFM structure) and


AFM-II (a spiral AFM structure) at low temperatures [18].
The first-order phase transition is a thermodynamic tran-
In this work, we performed detailed measurements of the
sition in which the first derivative of the free energy with
magnetic transitions of HoPtSn based on single crystals. We
respect to thermodynamic variables (such as temperature or
successfully grew single crystals of HoPtSn and did compre-
external magnetic field) is discontinuous and hysteresis can be
hensive measurements of electrical and magnetic properties.
observed as a result of the coexistence of two phases under a
Our measurement results indicate that the transition from
specific circumstance. First-order magnetic transition induced
AFM-I to AFM-II is a first-order magnetic transition, and this
by both temperatures and magnetic fields is of practical signif-
transition can be induced by both temperatures and magnetic
icance. For instance, the colossal magnetoresistance effect of
fields.
manganese oxide [1], the magnetocaloric effect [2,3], and the
shape-memory effect [4,5] occur in magnetic materials with
first-order magnetic phase transitions. II. EXPERIMENT DETAILS
Doped CeFe2 alloys are paradigms that undergo the first-
Single crystals of HoPtSn were successfully synthesized by
order transition between the ferromagnetic (FM) state and
using the Sn flux method. High-purity elements of Ho lumps
antiferromagnetic (AFM) state at low temperatures [6–8].
(1 mol, 0.88 g), Pt bars (1 mol, 1.041 g), and Sn balls (25 mol,
First-order magnetic transitions have been also reported in
15.82 g) were placed in an alumina crucible. The crucible was
compounds, such as Heusler compound Mn2 PtGa [9,10],
then sealed in an evacuated quartz tube. The sealed tube was
Gd5 Ge4 [11,12], Nd7 Rh3 [13], and Tb3 Ni [14]. In the afore-
heated at 1323 K for 30 h and cooled to 1073 K at a cooling
mentioned systems, the first-order magnetic transitions are
rate of 5 K/h. The tube dwelled for 10 h at 1073 K before
generally between FM (or ferrimagnetic) and AFM.
slowly cooling to 673 K at a rate of 2 K/h. Single crystals
Fe2 P and compounds with Fe2 P-type structures, such as
of HoPtSn were obtained by immediately centrifuging the Sn
MnFe(P1−x Gex ) and MnFe0.5 As0.4 Si0.1 are well-studied se-
flux. Single crystals of high-quality LuPtSn were grown by
ries that exhibit first-order magnetic transition [15–17], which
employing the same process.
may be related to the strong magnon-phonon interplay [15].
Single-crystal x-ray diffraction (SCXRD) was performed
Therefore, exploring the first-order magnetic phase transition
on a Bruker D8 Venture with Mo Kα radiation sources
in the Fe2 P-type compounds is anticipatable due to the sim-
(λ = 0.710 73 Å) at room temperature. The frames were in-
ilar phonon spectra. Rare-earth-based intermetallic HoPtSn,
tegrated with the Bruker SAINT software package using a
crystallizing in the Fe2 P-type structure, has been previously
narrow-frame algorithm. The structure was solved and refined
studied on polycrystalline samples and revealed two antifer-
using the Bruker SHELXTL software package [19].
The chemical composition of single crystals was measured
using an SU5000 scanning electron microscope equipped with
*
hai.feng@iphy.ac.cn a Bruker energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer (EDX). Data

ygshi@iphy.ac.cn were collected with an accelerating voltage of 15 kV and

2475-9953/2023/7(7)/074405(7) 074405-1 ©2023 American Physical Society


LIU, MIAO, FENG, AND SHI PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS 7, 074405 (2023)

TABLE I. Crystallographic data of HoPtSn.

Chemical formula HoPtSn


Temperature 303(2) K
Formula weight 478.71 g/mol
Radiation Mo Kα 0.710 73 Å
Crystal system Hexagonal
Space group P6̄2m
Unit-cell dimensions a = 7.4159(1) Å
b = 7.4159(1) Å
c = 3.9759(1) Å
Volume 189.362(7) Å3
Z 3
Density (calculated) 12.594 g/cm3
Absorption coefficient 95.705 mm−1
F(000) 585 FIG. 1. (a) Crystal structure of HoPtSn single crystal. (b) Sn-Pt
 range for data collection 3.17 ° to 36.35 ° layer viewed from the crystallographic c axis. (c) Distorted kagome
Index ranges −12 ⇐ h ⇐ 12, lattice of Ho ions in the Ho-Pt layer. (d) Single-face XRD pattern of
−12 ⇐ k ⇐ 12, the (h00) face and picture of a typical single crystal.
−6 ⇐ l ⇐ 6
Independent reflections 384[R(int) = 0.0382]
Structure solution program SHELXT 2014/5 (Sheldrick, 2014) Ho atoms only occupy the 3 f site (0, y, 0) and form a distorted
Refinement method Full-matrix least squares on F 2 kagome lattice [see Fig. 1(c)], which may induce interesting
Refinement program SHELXT 2018/3 (Sheldrick, 2018) magnetic behaviors because of the geometrical frustration. Pt
Function minimized w(Fo2 −Fc2 )2 atoms occupy two different sites: Pt1 atoms are in the 1a site
Data/restraints/parameters 384/0/14 (0, 0, 0), located in the center of the distorted kagome lattice,
Goodness of fit on F 2 1.254 while Pt2 atoms are in the 2d site (2/3, 1/3, 1/2), forming a
Final R indices 383 data; I > 2σ (I) honeycomb structure [see Fig. 1(b)]. Sn atoms occupy the 3g
R1 = 0.0130, wR2 = 0.0334 site (0, y, 0.5) and form standalone triangles.
All data The inset in Fig. 1(d) shows the picture of a typical HoPtSn
R1 = 0.0130, wR2 = 0.0334
single crystal on a 1-mm grid paper. X-ray diffraction (XRD)
Weighting scheme w = 1/[σ 2 (Fo2 ) + 1.5449P]
patterns of the single crystal displayed in Fig. 1(d) manifest
where P = (Fo2 + 2Fc2 )/3
that the side faces of the single crystal are parallel to the (h00)
plane.
Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility, χ (T ), of
an accumulation time of 40 s. The stoichiometry of single the HoPtSn single crystals measured with H||c and H⊥c
crystals with Ho:Pt:Sn in a 1:1:1 molar ratio was verified by are shown in Fig. 2(a). In the case of H||c, the χ (T ) curve
the EDX result. displays a sharp peak around 7.3 K (defined as TN1 ), indicating
Magnetic susceptibility and isothermal magnetization of an antiferromagnetic transition, and a sharp drop around 2.7 K
single crystals were measured using a Physical Property Mea- (defined as TN2 ), suggesting a second magnetic transition. This
surement System (PPMS-9T, Quantum Design) equipped with is consistent with previous neutron studies that HoPtSn is
a vibrating sample magnetometer. The standard four-probe ordered in a collinear AFM state below 7 K and becomes a
method was employed for electrical resistivity measurement spiral AFM state below 3 K [18]. In the case of H⊥c the χ (T )
and single crystals with a weight of 11.7 mg were used for curve also shows kinks corresponding to these transitions. The
heat-capacity measurement in the same PPMS. corresponding χ −1 (T ) curves present linear behavior down
to 10 K [see Fig. 2(b)]. We fitted the linear parts with the
Curie-Weiss law and obtained effective moments, μeff , are
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
10.52 and 10.83 μB for H||c and H⊥c, respectively. These
The crystal structure of HoPtSn is solved by analyzing values are close to the theoretical moment of 10.61 μB for
the SCXRD data; the details of crystallographic data from the free Ho3+ (J = 8). The Weiss temperature, θW , is 5.4 K
SCXRD analysis are shown in Table I. HoPtSn crystallizes in for H||c and is −19.5 K for H⊥c. The opposite signs of θW
the hexagonal lattice with a noncentrosymmetric space group indicate the different magnetic exchange interactions of Ho
P6̄2m (No. 189) with cell parameters of a = 7.4159(1) Å ions in the two directions.
and c = 3.9759(1) Å, which is consistent with structures pre- The temperature-dependent specific-heat data of HoPtSn
viously determined from x-ray and neutron diffraction on together with its nonmagnetic analog LuPtSn are shown in
powder samples [18,20]. Detailed atomic positions and dis- Fig. 2(c). There are anomalies around 7.3 and 2.4 K, support-
placement parameters for HoPtSn are summarized in the ing the long-range magnetic transitions. Figure 2(d) shows
Crystallographic Information File (Cif) in the Supplemental the low-temperature Cp /T versus T 2 curve, in which the
Material [21]. linear part yields from the fitting of Cp = γ T + βT 3 the elec-
The structure of HoPtSn, shown in Fig. 1(a), consists of the tronic specific-heat coefficient γ = 227 mJ mol−1 K−2 . This
Ho-Pt and Sn-Pt layers alternatively stacking along the c axis. value of γ is much higher than the magnitude of a typical

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EVIDENCE OF A FIRST-ORDER MAGNETIC … PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS 7, 074405 (2023)

TABLE II. Fitting results of resistivity by the BGM model.

ρ0 (μ cm) A (μ cm/K) TD (K) α(μ cm/K−3 )


HoPtSn 17.7(2) 0.327(3) 141(13) 7.0(4)×10−8
LuPtSn 12.62(1) 0.3437(4) 134(1) 0

The sudden increase at TN1 may be attributed to the formation


of a superzone gap due to the AFM order generating a new
Brillouin boundary [25–29]. At TN2 , the sharp drop indicates
that the magnetic structure change from the collinear AFM
structure to the spiral AFM state destroys the superzone gap.
We fitted these data with the Boch-Grüneisen-Mott (BGM)
model [30]:
 4  TD
T T x 5 dx
ρ(T )BGM = ρ0 + AT − αT 3 ,
TD 0 (e − 1)(1 − ex )
x

where ρ 0 is the residual resistivity originating from the im-


purities and defects in the samples, the second term stems
from electron-phonon scattering in which the TD represents
the Debye temperature, and the third term accounts for the s-d
interband scattering. The fitting results are shown in Table II.
The similar A values (the magnitude of electron-phonon scat-
tering) are due to the same crystal structure of the two sam-
ples. The larger value of ρ 0 in HoPtSn may derive from the
FIG. 2. (a) Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility of magnetic scattering. The Mott interband scattering term is ab-
HoPtSn collected for both H ||c and H ⊥c cases (H = 0.1 T). (b) In- sent in nonmagnetic LuPtSn but a small value always appears
verse magnetic susceptibility of HoPtSn collected for both H ||c and in the fitting of HoPtSn, which implies the magnetism of Ho
H ⊥c cases (H = 0.1 T) and the Curie-Weiss fitting. (c) Temperature- ions affects the electric transport process. The magnetic con-
dependent specific heat of HoPtSn and LuPtSn. (d) Low-temperature tribution of resistivity, ρ = ρHo − ρLu , is shown in Fig. 2(f)
Cp /T vs T 2 curve of HoPtSn. Inset shows the magnetic contribu- with a logarithmic scale. The ρ increase with cooling at high
tion and corresponding entropy. (e) Resistivity of single crystals of temperatures, indicating the cooperation of the CEF effect and
HoPtSn and its nonmagnetic counterpart LuPtSn. Blue curves are the
incoherent Kondo scattering of conducting electrons [31].
BGM model fitting. (f) Resistivity contributed from the magnetism
To further study the low-temperature magnetic transi-
of Ho ions ( ρ = ρHo − ρLu ).
tions, we have measured χ (T ) curves under different mag-
netic fields (H||c). Figure 3(a) shows the low-temperatures
nonmagnetic metal (Cu ∼ 0.7 mJ mol−1 K−2 ) and magnetic (2–15 K) χ (T ) curves measured with 0.05 T under zero-
metal (Mn ∼ 9.2 mJ mol−1 K−2 ) [22], which may result from field cooled (ZFC), field-cooled (FC), and field-warmed (FW)
the effect of magnetism on conduction electrons. Subtracting conditions. The χ (T ) curves are overlapped around the TN1 .
the specific-heat data of its nonmagnetic counterpart LuPtSn However, the χ (T ) curves around the TN2 do not overlap. The
as the phonon and electron contributions, the corresponding hysteresis between FC and FW/ZFC modes demonstrates the
magnetic contribution from Ho (Cmag ) and its magnetic en- characteristic of a first-order magnetic transition. The transi-
tropy (Smag ) are shown in the inset of Fig. 2(d). Besides the tion around TN2 shifts to lower temperatures by increasing the
peak stemming from the AFM transition at 7 K, a broad hump magnetic fields and finally disappears at 0.5 T [see Fig. 3(b)].
can be observed between 20 and 100 K, which is possibly This can be qualitatively explained by the Clausius-Clapeyron
ascribed to the crystalline electric field (CEF) effect [23]. The equation: dT /dH = − M/ S, where T is the phase tran-
magnetic entropy calculated by integrating Cmag /T vs T curve sition temperature, H is the external magnetic field, M is
reaches Rln(3) up to the temperature of 10 K, which would the difference of the magnetization of the two phases, and
indicate a quasitriplet state for Ho3+ ions in HoPtSn [24], S is the change of entropy during the phase transition. The
which coincides with the Kramers theory, namely, existing equation demonstrates that magnetic fields can shift the phase
odd multiple degeneracies for a non-Krameras ion. The Smag transition temperature. And, the transition temperature shifts
reaches 17 J mol−1 K−1 up to 100 K, which is about 75% of to lower temperatures with increasing magnetic fields if the
the theoretical value of Rln(17) for a Ho3+ (J = 8). low-temperature phase has a lower magnetism and vice versa.
The temperature-dependent resistivity, ρ(T ), of single Figure 3(c) displays the ρ(T ) curves of HoPtSn measured
crystals of HoPtSn and its nonmagnetic counterpart LuPtSn under cooling and warming conditions. A hysteresis loop has
are plotted in Fig. 2(e). Both of them exhibit metallic behav- been observed around TN2 , further supporting the first-order
iors. At low temperatures, the ρ(T ) of HoPtSn shows a sudden magnetic transition at TN2 . The ρ(T ) curves of HoPtSn at
increase around TN1 and a sudden drop around TN2 , indicating low temperatures, measured under different magnetic fields
that magnetic transitions influence the electronic structures. (H||c), are shown in Fig. 3(d). Without a magnetic field, the

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the higher field of 1.5 T, which may be due to the response


of Schottky anomaly to the magnetic fields. Generally, the
hump of specific heat in the Schottky anomaly shifts to higher
temperatures with increasing magnetic fields [32].
The M(H) curves of HoPtSn measured at different temper-
atures are plotted in Fig. 4(a). The magnetization curve at 100
K is linear, supporting the paramagnetic state. At T = 5 K
(TN2 < T < TN1 ), the magnetization curve shows a slow pro-
gressive canting of the magnetic moment and finally saturates
with a saturation moment (Ms) of 6.7 μB /f.u., indicating a
field-induced FM (F-FM) state. When T = 2 K (T < TN2 ), the
M(H) curve displays hysteresis loops around 0.2 T to 0.5 T,
which is attributed to the first-order magnetic transition from
AFM-II to AFM-I states. Similar hysteretic behavior has been
reported in the compounds undergoing a first-order magnetic
transition [6,9]. With further increase of magnetic fields, the
M(H) curve also shows an F-FM transition with a critical field
of 0.72 T, determined from the corresponding dM/dH curve
in the inset of Fig. 4(a). The Ms is about 7.1 μB /f.u. at 2 K
and 2 T. In a similar compound HoPtIn, the reported Ms is
7.8 μB /f.u. [33]. It should be noted that these experimentally
observed values are lower than the theoretical value of 10
μB /f.u. for a free Ho3+ (gJ = 5/4 and J = 8).
The field-dependent magnetoresistance (MR) of HoPtSn
measured at different temperatures with H||c is shown in
Figs. 4(b) and 4(c). At temperatures of 20, 7, and 5 K, negative
MR is observed, which is due to the suppression of AFM order
by magnetic fields. At 2 K, hysteresis loops are observed,
which is consistent with the hysteresis observed in the M(H)
curve and supports the first-order magnetic transition. HoPtSn
is in the AFM-II state at 2 K under magnetic fields of 0 to 0.38
FIG. 3. (a) χ (T ) curve measured under 0.05 T with three differ- T [path 1 or 5 in Fig. 4(c)], and does not exhibit MR. When
ent modes. (b) χ (T ) curves measured under various magnetic fields. increasing the magnetic field to 0.5 T, HoPtSn transits into the
(c) Low-temperature resistivity of HoPtSn measured under cooling AFM-I state accompanied by a sharp increase of resistance,
and warming modes. (d) Temperature dependence of resistivity at resulting in a positive MR. With further increase of magnetic
low temperatures under various magnetic fields. (e) Low-temperature fields, the AFM-I state is suppressed toward an F-FM state,
Cp /T vs T curves with different magnetic fields. resulting in the decrease of resistivity and negative MR. The
MR also shows a saturation when the corresponding M(H)
curves saturate.
ρ(T ) of HoPtSn shows a sudden increase around TN1 and From these resistivity, magnetism, and specific-heat data,
a sudden drop around TN2 at low temperatures, indicating the phase diagram of HoPtSn with H||c is depicted in
that magnetic orders influence the electronic structures. When Fig. 5(a). The ground state for HoPtSn is AFM-II. With the
H = 0.3 T, the anomalies around TN1 and TN2 shift toward increase of temperature or magnetic fields, the AFM-II state
lower temperatures, which is consistent with the observation can transit to the AFM-I state. Between AFM-I and AFM-II,
in the χ (T ) measured with different magnetic fields. When there is an area marked with black slashes. This area results
H = 0.5 T, the anomaly around TN2 disappears, which is con- from the hysteresis of χ (T ) curves measured by the warming
sistent with χ (T ) results that the TN2 transition is suppressed and cooling process, demonstrating the characteristic of the
when H is 0.5 T or larger. When H = 1 T, both anomalies first-order magnetic transition. In this area, the Gibbs free
around TN1 and TN2 disappear, indicating the AFM transitions energy of both phases achieves the minimum, and both phases
are suppressed by the magnetic fields, which is accordant with coexist.
the χ (T ) results [see Fig. 3(b)]. To further verify the validity of the phase diagram, the
The low-temperature Cp /T versus T curves of HoPtSn resistivity with different scans of magnetic fields is measured
measured with zero and different magnetic fields (H||c) are [see Fig. 5(a)]. For path 1, the sample was cooled down to
plotted in Fig. 3(e). Anomalies around TN1 and TN2 shift 2.2 K under a magnetic field of 0.6 T, and then the magnetic
toward lower temperatures with increasing magnetic fields field was decreased to 0.28 T before the resistivity was
being observed. The anomalies around TN1 and TN2 disappear measured between 2.2 and 10 K. For path 2, the sample was
at the field of 0.3 and 0.9 T, respectively, which is consistent cooled down to 2.2 K with zero magnetic fields, and then a
with the χ (T ) and ρ(T ) curves measured with different mag- magnetic field of 0.28 T was applied before the resistivity was
netic fields. Further increasing the field, a hump is observed measured between 2.2 and 10 K. The resistivity data measured
at the field of 1.2 T and shifts to the higher temperature with are shown in Fig. 5(b). Due to the different scans of magnetic

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EVIDENCE OF A FIRST-ORDER MAGNETIC … PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS 7, 074405 (2023)

FIG. 5. (a) Low-temperature phase diagram of HoPtSn for H ||c.


Shadow area with black slashes shows the coexistence region of
the AFM II state and the AFM I state. (b) Resistivity with differ-
ent trajectories of scans of magnetic fields and the same scans of
temperatures.

attributed to the hysteretic nature of the first-order phase


transition [1].
The low-temperature χ (T ) curves of HoPtSn under various
magnetic fields (H⊥c) are exhibited in Fig. 6(a). The tran-
sitions at TN1 and TN2 are relatively robust against magnetic
fields: the kinks at TN1 only change from 7.3 K (H = 0.1 T)
to 6.8 K (H = 2 T). Figure 6(b) shows the isothermal mag-
netization M(H) at 2, 10, and 100 K. The magnetizations do
not show signs of saturation and only reach about 3 μB /f.u. at
2 K and 3 T. The low-temperature curves of Cp /T versus T
under 0- and 1.0-T magnetic fields are plotted in Fig. 6(c).
FIG. 4. (a) Isothermal magnetization curves of HoPtSn measured
The applied magnetic fields do not suppress the magnetic
at different temperatures. Inset is the dM/dH curve of T = 2 K transitions. The low-temperature resistivity curves measured
under the magnetic fields from 0 to 2 T. (b) Isothermal magnetore- under varied magnetic fields (H⊥c) are shown in Fig. 6(d).
sistance for HoPtSn measured at different temperatures. (c) Enlarged The increase of resistivity near TN1 and the sharp drop near
view for magnetoresistance and magnetization data at 2 K. TN2 are robust against magnetic fields up to 9 T.

IV. CONCLUSION
fields, the sample results in different metastable states and the
disparity of the resistivity. This phenomenon has been also Single crystals of HoPtSn and its nonmagnetic analog
observed in other compounds with the first-order magnetic LuPtSn are grown using the flux method. HoPtSn single
transition. This route-dependent property of the crystal is crystal exhibits two magnetic transitions at low temperatures.

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LIU, MIAO, FENG, AND SHI PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS 7, 074405 (2023)

kagome lattice of Ho ions. Magnetic susceptibility measure-


ments confirm that HoPtSn exhibits two AFM transitions at
7.3 and 2.4 K, consistent with previous neutron-diffraction
studies. Our detailed magnetic and electrical studies indicate
that the transition at 2.4 K is a first-order magnetic transition,
which is supported by the hysteresis loops observed in the
χ (T ) and ρ(T ) curves. In the case of H||c, the magnetic states
of HoPtSn are sensitive to applied magnetic fields. The AFM-
II state at 2 K can be induced to be AFM-I and F-FM states
by different magnetic fields. Particularly, the field-induced
transition from AFM-II to AFM-I is also a first-order mag-
netic transition, which is evidenced by the hysteresis loops
observed from the M(H) and MR curves. The magnetic phase
diagram is depicted for the case of H||c. In the case of H⊥c,
the AFM transitions are relatively robust against magnetic
fields up to 9 T.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FIG. 6. (a) Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility of This work is supported by the National Natural Science
HoPtSn measured under various magnetic fields. (b) Isothermal mag- Foundation of China (Grants No. U2032204, No. U22A6005,
netization of HoPtSn measured at different temperatures (H ⊥c). (c) and No. 12104492), the National Key Research and Develop-
Low-temperature Cp /T vs T curves with zero and 1 T magnetic field ment Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFA1400401), the
(H ⊥c). (d) Temperature dependence of resistivity of HoPtSn at low Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy
temperatures measured under various magnetic fields (H ⊥c). of Sciences (Grant No. XDB33010000), the Informatization
Plan of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. CAS-
Analysis of the SCXRD data indicates that HoPtSn crystal- WX2021SF-0102), and the Synergetic Extreme Condition
lizes in the Fe2 P-type hexagonal structure with a distorted User Facility (SECUF).

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