We have grown the single crystals of iso-structural CeTiGe3 and CeVGe3 compounds by using Ce-Ge eutectic as flux. Using the techniques of magnetization, electrical resistivity and heat capacity, our data on single crystals reveal pronounced magnetic anisotropies in these compounds with hexagonal symmetry. The c-axis is the easy axis of magnetization in CeTiGe3 which orders ferromagnetically at 14 K, and a gap in the magnon excitation spectra of ∼ 28 K is inferred from both electrical resistivity and heat capacity. The electrical resistivity of CeTiGe3 shows anisotropic Kondo behavior and the heat capacity indicates the existence of the first excited crystal electric field split doublet lying at about ∼ 50 K. The nature of magnetic ordering changes to antiferromagnetic in CeVGe3, which undergoes a magnetic transition at TN ∼ 6 K with the a - b plane as the easy plane of magnetization. Below TN, the electrical resistivity of CeVGe3 along the c axis shows an upturn due to the opening of a gap. The 4f contribution to the resistivity ρ4f establishes that CeVGe3, like the Ti analog, is also a Kondo lattice compound. The present work on single crystals further advances our understanding of these materials based on polycrystalline samples which have been studied earlier in the literature.

We report anisotropic dc magnetic susceptibility χ(T), isothermal magnetization M(H), electrical resistivity ρ(T) and heat capacity C(T) measurements on a high quality single crystalline sample of NdCrSb3. The crystal exhibits ferromagnetic ordering below TC = 100 K due to ordering of Cr spins. The ferromagnetic phase is highly anisotropic. The anisotropy becomes even more evident at low temperatures where the rare earth ion (Nd3+) gets magnetically ordered. Nd moments order ferromagnetically below 10 K. The magnetic interplay between these two species (Cr3+ and Nd3+ ions) gives NdCrSb3 a complex magnetic phase diagram.

PtSn4 is a non-congruently melting compound in the Pt-Sn binary phase diagram, crystallizing in the centrosymmetric space group Ccca. We report on single crystal growth, temperature dependent electrical resistivity, isothermal field-dependent magnetization and magnetostriction, and on band structure calculations of this transition metal compound. The high quality of the sample makes it possible to observe clearly resolved quantum oscillations in the magnetization data for temperatures as high as 20 K and in magnetic fields as low as 10 kOe. We found several frequencies along the three crystallographic directions and could relate them to several extremal orbits on the Fermi surface.

We report anisotropic dc magnetic susceptibility ͑T͒, isothermal magnetization M͑H͒, electrical resistivity ͑T͒, and heat capacity C͑T͒ measurements on a single crystalline sample of PrCrSb 3 . The crystal exhibits ferromagnetic ordering below T C = 112 K due to ordering of Cr spins. The ferromagnetic phase is highly anisotropic. The anisotropy becomes even more evident at low temperatures at which the rare-earth ion gets magnetically ordered. Pr moments antiferromagnetically order at T N = 12 K. The magnetic interplay between these two species ͑Cr 3+ and Pr 3+ ions͒ gives PrCrSb 3 a complex magnetic phase diagram.

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