Field and temperature dependences of anisotropic magnetic susceptibility of CaNdAlO/sub 4/ crystal

The measurements of temperature dependences of magnetic susceptibility both in (a-b) plane, and along c-axis of CaNdAlO/sub 4/ single crystal have been performed. The strong uniaxial anisotropy of magnetic properties has been found. The low field susceptibility along c-axis is well described by the Curie law, while the susceptibility in (a-b) plane can be described by Curie-Weiss law suggesting the presence of antiferromagnetic interactions between neodymium ions. However, the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility can also appear to be due to crystal field acting on magnetic ions in a system without any exchange interaction. The successful description of experimental data was done in frames of the crystal field approximation.<>