Abstract
Half-Heusler compounds have attracted significant attention because of their topologically non-trivial electronic structure, which leads to unusual electron transport properties. We thoroughly investigated the magnetotransport properties of high-quality single crystals of two half-Heusler phases, TbPtBi and HoPtBi, in pursuit of the characteristic features of topologically non-trivial electronic states. Both studied compounds are characterized by the giant values of transverse magnetoresistance with no sign of saturation in a magnetic field up to 14 T. HoPtBi demonstrates the Shubnikov–de Haas effect with two principal frequencies, indicating a complex Fermi surface; the extracted values of carrier effective masses are rather small, 0.18 me and 0.27 me. The investigated compounds exhibit negative longitudinal magnetoresistance and anomalous Hall effect, which likely arise from a nonzero Berry curvature. Both compounds show strongly anisotropic magnetoresistance that in HoPtBi exhibits a butterfly-like behavior.
Highlights
Topological materials, i.e., materials with non-trivial topology of the electronic structure, were very intensively studied during the last decade.1,2 Despite this fact, searching for new representatives of this family of compounds is still of great importance because it can provide a route to better understanding of their fascinating physical properties and expand a basis for potential applications
The results of our magnetic measurements confirmed that the antiferromagnetic ordering in both compounds below TN is equal to 3.36 K and 1.26 K for TbPtBi and HoPtBi, respectively [see the upper insets of Figs. 1(a) and 1(b)]
This paper presents the magnetotransport properties, which can be attributed to the possible existence of topologically non-trivial electronic states in half-Heusler compounds HoPtBi and TbPtBi
Summary
Topological materials, i.e., materials with non-trivial topology of the electronic structure, were very intensively studied during the last decade. Despite this fact, searching for new representatives of this family of compounds is still of great importance because it can provide a route to better understanding of their fascinating physical properties and expand a basis for potential applications. Topological materials, i.e., materials with non-trivial topology of the electronic structure, were very intensively studied during the last decade.1,2 Despite this fact, searching for new representatives of this family of compounds is still of great importance because it can provide a route to better understanding of their fascinating physical properties and expand a basis for potential applications. Particular attention is paid to platinumbearing half-Heusler materials, which were found to exhibit the distinctive features of topological semimetals.. Particular attention is paid to platinumbearing half-Heusler materials, which were found to exhibit the distinctive features of topological semimetals.6,15–17 Some of these compounds were reported to superconduct at low temperatures despite very low carrier concentrations.. Some of these compounds were reported to superconduct at low temperatures despite very low carrier concentrations.10,18–20 This is especially interesting because the mechanisms of superconductivity in these systems can be unconventional.. HalfHeusler phases crystallizing in the cubic MgAgAs-type crystal structure are renowned for the diversity of their chemical compositions; they show a very wide gamut of physical properties. We focus our investigations mainly on the rare-earth (RE) based half-Heusler phases whose physical properties are very diverse, including antiferromagnetism, superconductivity, heavyfermion behavior, good thermoelectric performance, and non-trivial topological properties. Particular attention is paid to platinumbearing half-Heusler materials, which were found to exhibit the distinctive features of topological semimetals. Besides, some of these compounds were reported to superconduct at low temperatures despite very low carrier concentrations. This is especially interesting because the mechanisms of superconductivity in these systems can be unconventional. The results of both electronic structure calculations and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) studies showed that the well-known heavyfermion system YbPtBi23 holds triply degenerate fermion points.
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