  The intermetallic compound LaAgSb2 displays two charge-density-wave (CDW)
transitions, which were detected with measurements of electrical resistivity
(rho), magnetic susceptibility, and X-ray scattering; the upper transition
takes place at T1 approx. 210 K, and it is accompanied by a large anomaly in
rho(T), whereas the lower transition is marked by a much more subtle anomaly at
T2 approx. 185 K. We studied the effect of hydrostatic pressure (P) on the
formation of the upper CDW state in pure and doped La1-xRxAgSb2 (R = Ce, Nd)
compounds, by means of measurements of rho(T) for P < 23 kbar. We found that
the hydrostatic pressure, as well as the chemical pressure introduced by the
partial substitution of the smaller Ce and Nd ions for La, result in the
suppression of the CDW ground state, e.g. the reduction of the ordering
temperature T1. The values of dT1/dP are approx. 2-4 times higher for the
Ce-doped samples as compared to pure LaAgSb2, or even La0.75Nd0.25AgSb2
Nd-doped with a comparable T1 (P=0). This increased sensitivity to pressure may
be due to increasing Ce- hybridization under pressure. The magnetic ordering
temperature of the cerium-doped compounds is also reduced by pressure, and the
high pressure behavior of the Ce-doped samples is dominated by Kondo impurity
scattering.
