Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Anomalous magnetotransport in the single-crystalline half-Heusler antiferromagnet ErPdSb

Abhinav Agarwal, Shovan Dan, Maciej J. Winiarski, Orest Pavlosiuk, Piotr Wisniewski, Dariusz Kaczorowski

Abstract

We report the thermodynamic and magnetotransport properties of the half-Heusler antimonide ErPdSb, studied on single-crystalline samples in wide ranges of temperature and magnetic fields. The compound was found to order antiferromagnetically at 1.2 K. In the paramagnetic state, it shows semimetallic behavior with a broad hump in the temperature-dependent electrical resistivity around 70 K. The results of ab initio calculations of the electronic structure of ErPdSb indicated a bulk insulating nature. In small magnetic fields the magnetoresistance is driven by a weak antilocalization effect, while in strong fields it is negative and describable by the deGennes-Friedel formalism. The Hall effect data indicated that holes are the dominant charge carriers. At 2 K, the Hall conductivity exhibits a sizable anomalous contribution, which is obscured by multiband effects at higher temperatures. The angular magnetoresistance shows unusual features as functions of magnetic field and temperature, pointing to a possible field-induced reconstruction of the Fermi surface.

Anomalous magnetotransport in the single-crystalline half-Heusler antiferromagnet ErPdSb

Abstract

We report the thermodynamic and magnetotransport properties of the half-Heusler antimonide ErPdSb, studied on single-crystalline samples in wide ranges of temperature and magnetic fields. The compound was found to order antiferromagnetically at 1.2 K. In the paramagnetic state, it shows semimetallic behavior with a broad hump in the temperature-dependent electrical resistivity around 70 K. The results of ab initio calculations of the electronic structure of ErPdSb indicated a bulk insulating nature. In small magnetic fields the magnetoresistance is driven by a weak antilocalization effect, while in strong fields it is negative and describable by the deGennes-Friedel formalism. The Hall effect data indicated that holes are the dominant charge carriers. At 2 K, the Hall conductivity exhibits a sizable anomalous contribution, which is obscured by multiband effects at higher temperatures. The angular magnetoresistance shows unusual features as functions of magnetic field and temperature, pointing to a possible field-induced reconstruction of the Fermi surface.
Paper Structure (16 sections, 4 equations, 14 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 16 sections, 4 equations, 14 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Methods
  3. Experimental details
  4. Computational details
  5. Results
  6. Electronic structure
  7. Thermodynamic properties
  8. Magnetotransport properties
  9. Angle-dependent magnetoresistance
  10. Discussion
  11. Conclusions
  12. Structural Characterization
  13. Isothermal $M(B)$ curves
  14. Temperature dependence of resistivity in different magnetic fields
  15. WAL fitting for transverse magnetoconductivity
  16. ...and 1 more sections

Figures (14)

  • Figure 1: (a) Electronic band structure calculated using the MBJGGA approach. The inset shows a Brillouin zone of the fcc primitive cell of ErPdSb. (b) Total and partial density of states.
  • Figure 2: Magnetic properties of single-crystalline ErPdSb. (a) The low-temperature magnetic susceptibility probed in a small field of 25 mT directed along the [001] axis. The arrow marks the antiferromagnetic phase transition. (b) Temperature dependence of the reciprocal magnetic susceptibility measured in a magnetic field of 0.5 T applied along the [001] direction. The red straight line represents the Curie-Weiss fit discussed in the text. (b) Magnetic field variation of the magnetization measured at 0.5 K in magnetic field applied along the [001] direction. (d) The field derivative of the magnetization versus field. The arrow marks a metamagnetic-like transition.
  • Figure 3: Temperature dependence of the specific heat of single-crystalline ErPdSb. The horizontal dashed line marks the Dulong-Petit limit. The arrow marks the antiferromagnetic phase transition. Inset: the ratio of specific heat over temperature measured at low temperatures in zero and finite magnetic fields applied along the [001] axis.
  • Figure 4: Electrical transport properties of single-crystalline ErPdSb. (a) Temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity measured with the electric current flowing along the crystallographic [100] direction. (b) Transverse magnetoresistance isotherms. (c) Longitudinal magnetoresistance isotherms measured in different magnetic fields applied parallel to the electric current flowing along the [100] axis. (d) Magnetic field dependence of the Hall resistivity measured at several temperatures, with the current flowing along the [100] direction and the magnetic field applied along [001] direction. (e) The Hall resistivity at different temperatures (curves for $T>2$ K are vertically offset by multiples of $8\,\mu\Omega$ cm). (f) The low-temperature Hall resistivity measured as in panel (d) in weak magnetic fields.
  • Figure 5: Magnetic field variations of the Hall conductivity in ErPdSb measured as described in Fig. \ref{['res']}(d) at (a) 150 K and (b) 200 K. The red solid lines show the fits obtained using the two-band model (see the text).
  • ...and 9 more figures