  Polycrystalline samples of the solid solution Ce2Cu2-xNixIn were studied by
means of x-ray powder diffraction, magnetic susceptibility and electrical
resistivity measurements performed in a wide temperature range. Partial
substitution of copper atoms by nickel atoms results in quasi-linear decrease
of the lattice parameters and the unit cell volume of the system. The lattice
compression leads to an increase in the exchange integral and yields a reversal
in the order of the magnetic 4f1 and nonmagnetic 4f0 states, being in line with
the Doniach phase diagram. In the localized regime, where an interplay of the
Kondo scattering and the crystalline electric field effect takes place, the
rise in the hybridization strength is accompanied with relative reduction in
the scattering conduction electrons on excited crystal field levels. (c) 2011
IOP Publishing Ltd.
