Cluster Glass Behavior and Magnetocaloric Effect in the Hexagonal Polymorph of Disordered Ce₂PdGe₃

In this work, the hexagonal variant of the Ce 2 PdGe 3 system is studied, which crystallizes in the AlB 2 ‐type structure (space group P6/mmm, hP3) and exhibits cluster spin‐glass type behavior. The physical properties are studied by magnetization, heat capacity and electric resistivity, which showed that AlB 2 ‐type Ce 2 PdGe 3 (h‐Ce 2 PdGe 3 ) can be classified as a cluster glass material with the freezing temperature T f = 3.44 K in contrast to the behavior of the previously described tetragonal variant, which shows a double antiferromagnetic transition at T N1 = 11 K and T N2 = 2.3 K. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements reveal that the Ce 4 f states are well localized. In addition, the magnetocaloric effect in this compound is examined. The maximum values of magnetocaloric parameters appear in the vicinity of 7–9 K. For a magnetic field change of 50 kOe, the value of the change in magnetic entropy is 2.6(1) J kg −1 K −1 and the adiabatic temperature change is ≈8 K.