Hybridization Effect On Electron Transport Properties Of Rhombic Triacontahedral-Type Al60-xMg40Xx. (X = Zn, Cu, Ag, and Pd) 1/1-Cubic Approximants

Abstract

AbstractWe have measured in this experiment the XPS (x-ray photoemission spectroscopy) and SXES (soft x-ray emission spectroscopy) valence spectra, the electrical resistivity, the Hall coefficient and the Rietveld structural analysis for a series of the RT-type (Rhombic Triacontahedron) Al60-xMg40Xx (X = Zn, Cu, Ag and Pd; x = 5 - 40) 1/1-approximants. The electrical resistivity at 300 K is successfully analyzed in terms of the carrier concentration per atom e/a and the ratio of the lattice constant over the “ideal” lattice constant defined as LCR. The latter is chosen as a quantitative measure of the degree of the hybridization between Al and transition metal elements Cu, Ag and Pd. We show that a sharp resistivity increase with increasing the concentration of the transition metal element can be attributed to the deepening of the pseudogap at the Fermi level, which is brought about by the combination of the Fermi surface-Brillouin zone interaction and the growth of the hybridization effect.