The stability of a Shastry-Sutherland ShSu phase as a function of electron
concentration is investigated through the field dependence of thermal and
magnetic properties of the solid solution Ce_{2-x}Pd_{2+y}In_{1-z} in the
antiferromagnetic branch. In these alloys the electronic (holes) variation is
realized by increasing Pd concentration. The AF transition T_M decreases from
3.5K to 2.8K as Pd concentration increases from y=0.2 to y=0.4. By applying
magnetic field, the ShSu phase is suppressed once the field induced
ferromagnetic polarization takes over at a critical field B_{cr} which
increases with Pd content. A detailed analysis around the critical point
reveals a structure in the maximum of the dM/dB derivative, which is related
with incipient steps in the magnetization M(B) as predicted by the theory for
the ShSu lattice. The crossing of M(B) isotherms, observed in ShSu prototype
compounds, is also analyzed. The effect of In substitution by Pd is
interpreted as an increase of the number of 'holes' in the conduction band and
results in a unique parameter able to describe the variation of the magnetic
properties along the studied range of concentration.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure
