No Arabic abstract
We report transport measurement in zero and applied magnetic field on a single crystal of NbAs. Transverse and longitudinal magnetoresistance in the plane of this tetragonal structure does not saturate up to 9 T. In the transverse configuration ($H parallel c$, $I perp c$) it is 230,000 % at 2 K. The Hall coefficient changes sign from hole-like at room temperature to electron-like below $sim$ 150 K. The electron carrier density and mobility calculated at 2 K based on a single band approximation are 1.8 x 10$^{19}$ cm$^{-3}$ and 3.5 x 10$^{5}$ cm$^2$/Vs, respectively. These values are similar to reported values for TaAs and NbP, and further emphasize that this class of noncentrosymmetric, transition-metal monopnictides is a promising family to explore the properties of Weyl semimetals and the consequences of their novel electronic structure.
We report magnetic field dependent transport measurements on a single crystal of cubic YSb together with first principles calculations of its electronic structure. The transverse magnetoresistance does not saturate up to 9 T and attains a value of 75,000 % at 1.8 K. The Hall coefficient is electron-like at high temperature, changes sign to hole-like between 110 and 50 K, and again becomes electron-like below 50 K. First principles calculations show that YSb is a compensated semimetal with a qualitatively similar electronic structure to that of isostructural LaSb and LaBi, but with larger Fermi surface volume. The measured electron carrier density and Hall mobility calculated at 1.8 K, based on a single band approximation, are 6.5$times10^{20}/$cm$^{3}$ and 6.2$times10^{4}$cm$^{2}$/Vs, respectively. These values are comparable with those reported for LaBi and LaSb. Like LaBi and LaSb, YSb undergoes a magnetic field-induced metal-insulator-like transition below a characteristic temperature T$_{m}$, with resistivity saturation below 13 K. Thickness dependent electrical resistance measurements show a deviation of the resistance behavior from that expected for a normal metal; however, they do not unambiguously establish surface conduction as the mechanism for the resistivity plateau.
We report the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the magnetotransport properties of the Weyl semimetal NbAs. Subtle changes can be seen in the $rho_{xx}(T)$ profiles with pressure up to 2.31 GPa. The Fermi surfaces undergo an anisotropic evolution under pressure: the extremal areas slightly increase in the $mathbf{k_x}$-$mathbf{k_y}$ plane, but decrease in the $mathbf{k_z}$-$mathbf{k_y}$($mathbf{k_x}$) plane. The topological features of the two pockets observed at atmospheric pressure, however, remain unchanged at 2.31 GPa. No superconductivity can be seen down to 0.3 K for all the pressures measured. By fitting the temperature dependence of specific heat to the Debye model, we obtain a small Sommerfeld coefficient $gamma_0=$ 0.09(1) mJ/(mol$cdot$K$^2$) and a large Debye temperature, $Theta_D=$ 450(9) K, confirming a hard crystalline lattice that is stable under pressure. We also studied the Kadowaki-Woods ratio of this low-carrier-density massless system, $R_{KW}=$ 3.2$times 10^4$ $muOmega$ cm mol$^2$ K$^2$ J$^{-2}$. After accounting for the small carrier density in NbAs, this $R_{KW}$ indicates a suppressed transport scattering rate relative to other metals.
Reported values (0.2 MPa ~ 7.0 GPa) of the interlayer shear strength (ISS) of graphite are very dispersed. The main challenge to obtain a reliable value of ISS is the lack of precise experimental methods. Here we present a novel experimental approach to measure the ISS, and obtain the value as 0.14 GPa. Our result can serve as an important basis for understanding mechanical behavior of graphite or graphene-based materials.
The polycrystalline form of the compound, Tb5Si3, crystallizing in Mn5Si3-type hexagonal structure, which was earlier believe to order antiferromagnetically below 69 K, has been recently reported by us to exhibit interesting magnetoresistance (MR) anomalies. In order to understand the magnetic anomalies of this compound better, we synthesized single crystals of this compound and subjected them to intense magnetization and MR studies. The results reveal that the magnetic behavior is strongly anisotropic as the easy axis is along a basal plane. There appear to be multiple magnetic features in the close vicinity of 70 K. In addition, there are multiple steps in isothermal magnetization (which could not be resolved in the data for polycrystalline data) for magnetic-field (H) along a basal plane. The sign of MR is positive in the magnetically ordered state, and, interestingly, the magnitude dramatically increases at the initial step for H parallel to basal plane, but decreases at subsequent steps as though the origin of these steps are different. However, for the perpendicular orientation (H || [0 0 0 1]), there is no evidence for any step either in M(H) or in MR(H). These results establish this compound is an interesting magnetic material.
Specific heat, magnetic torque, and magnetization studies of LiCoPO4 olivine are presented. They show that an unique set of physical properties of LiCoPO4 leads to the appearance of features characteristic of 2D Ising systems near the Neel temperature, T_N =21.6 K, and to the appearance of an uncommon effect of influence of magnetic field on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The latter effect manifests itself as a first-order transition, discovered at ~9 K, induced by magnetic field of 8 T. Physical nature of this transition was explained and a model describing experimental dependences satisfactorily was proposed.