Magnetic excitations in CePd2Si2

The results of inelastic neutron scattering measurements on a single crystal of CePd2Si2 are presented. A broad magnetic contribution was observed near 20 meV at 20 K. Two different models were used to analyze this response: a single crystal-field excitation with a slightly Q-dependent energy, and two nearly degenerate crystal-field excitations without dispersion. In both cases the excitations have an appreciable intrinsic width due to the strong coupling between the 4f electrons of Ce and the conduction electrons. It is remarkable that, despite the presence of this strong coupling, the reduction of the Ce moment to 0.66μB at 4.2 K seems to be solely due to crystal-field effects.