Magnetic Properties and Local Atomic Ordering in Ce(Fe1 –xSix)2 Compounds with a Silicon Content x ≤ 0.05

To specify what triggers the magnetostructural transition in CeFe 2 doped with silicon, the temperature dependences of the magnetization, as well as the initial magnetic susceptibility and field dependences of the magnetization of the rare-earth intermetallic compounds Ce(Fe 1 – x Si x ) 2 with the silicon content x ≤ 0.05, were measured. The transition temperature to the magnetically ordered state and the average magnetic moment at Fe atoms were determined, and the magnetic contribution to the entropy change was estimated. Mössbauer spectra of Ce(Fe 1 – x Si x ) 2 ( x ≤ 0.05) in the paramagnetic state were measured with a discretization of velocity scale of 512 channels, processing of which served to confirm the earlier suggested local ordering of Si atoms in the Fe sublattice.