Origin of the −|A|T1/2 term in the resistivity of disordered ZrAs1.58Se0.39

Abstract

Recently, Cichorek et al. have analyzed the magnetic-field-independent $\ensuremath{-}|A|{T}^{1/2}$ term in the resistivity of disordered ${\mathrm{ZrAs}}_{1.58}{\mathrm{Se}}_{0.39}$ within the Altshuler-Arononv model of electron-electron interaction in the presence of disorder [Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 106601 (2016)]. Making the assumption that diffusion of conduction electrons in this compound is isotropic, they could not get quantitative agreement between the considered model and the experimental results. This led the authors to conclude that the singular ${T}^{1/2}$ contribution to the resistivity of ${\mathrm{ZrAs}}_{1.58}{\mathrm{Se}}_{0.39}$ could not be caused by electron-electron interaction but could only be explained by a two-channel Kondo effect. Here, we perform a detailed analysis of the $\ensuremath{-}|A|{T}^{1/2}$ correction to the resistivity of disordered ${\mathrm{ZrAs}}_{1.58}{\mathrm{Se}}_{0.39}$ using analogous Altshuler-Aronov relation but taking into account that the diffusion coefficient in the tetragonal ${\mathrm{ZrAs}}_{1.58}{\mathrm{Se}}_{0.39}$ is anisotropic. For the considered resistivity anisotropy, we found that the calculated values of the $A$ coefficient are in very good agreement with those derived from the resistivity measurements. Moreover, analysis indicates that the values of the screening parameter ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{(j=1)}$ are close to zero, which satisfies the condition that the $A$ coefficient does not depend on magnetic field. This shows that the magnetic-field-independent $\ensuremath{-}|A|{T}^{1/2}$ correction to the resistivity of disordered ${\mathrm{ZrAs}}_{1.58}{\mathrm{Se}}_{0.39}$ can be explained within the electron-electron interaction scenario in disordered metallic systems.