  In this paper, specific features of Sm magnetism in an intermetallic compound
have been studied. For this purpose, a high-quality single crystal of SmPd2Al3
was grown and subjected to detailed measurements of specific heat,
magnetization, ac susceptibility, and electrical resistivity with respect to
temperature and a magnetic field applied along the principal crystallographic
directions. SmPd2Al3 magnetism was found to be strongly anisotropic with the
easy-magnetization direction along the c axis where the main magnetic features
are concentrated. The a-axis response remains weak, paramagneticlike, even in
the magnetically ordered state. Ferromagnetism with TC=12.4 K has been
indicated by all the measured physical properties. At lower temperatures, three
successive order-order phase transitions have been observed on the temperature
dependence of the specific heat as three anomalies: at 3.4, 3.9, and 4.4 K,
respectively. The low-temperature magnetization data can be understood within a
scenario that considers the antiferromagnetic ground state as being gradually
destroyed through a series of four metamagnetic transitions at 0.03, 0.35, 0.5,
and 0.75 T, as detected in the 1.8 K magnetization data. The experimental data
are discussed together with the results of electronic-structure and
crystal-field calculations from first principles, which were performed as an
important part of the study for comprehension and explanation of the observed
behavior of the SmPd2Al3 compound.
