C-Type Antiferromagnetic Structure of Topological Semimetal CaMnSb_(2)

Determination of the magnetic structure and confirmation of the presence or absence of inversion(P)and time reversal(Τ)symmetry is imperative for correctly understanding the topological magnetic materials.Here highquality single crystals of the layered manganese pnictide CaMnSb_(2)are synthesized using the self-flux method.

CrAlGe:An itinerant ferromagnet with strong tunability by heat treatment

We present a comprehensive investigation on CrAlGe and realize that it is an itinerant ferromagnet with strong tunability of the Curie temperature T_(C)and the spontaneous momentμ_(0)depending on annealing heat treatment.While the value of T_(C) was previously reported to be 80 K withμ_(0)≈0.41μB,in this work the two quantities attain values as high as 170 K and 0.66μ_(B),respectively.Heat treatment does not cause changes of the lattice parameters and symmetry,but results in a slight narrowing of the Bragg peaks.The strong tunability of the itinerant ferromagnetism indicates significantly tunable hybridization between the Cr 3d electrons and the conduction bands,in agreement with the dominant Cr–Al/Ge bonds of this compound.Further tuning along the same line towards even stronger or weaker itinerant ferromagnetism promises an interesting follow-up to clarify the localized-itinerant duality of the 3d electrons in this compound.

Unusual thermodynamics of low-energy phonons in the Dirac semimetal Cd_(3)As_(2)

By studying the thermal conductivity,specific heat,elastic modulus,and thermal expansion as a function of temperature for Cd_(3)As_(2),we have unveiled a couple of important thermodynamic features of the low-energy phonons strongly interacting with Dirac electrons.The existence of soft optical phonons,as inferred from the extremely low thermal conductivity,is unambiguously confirmed by low-temperature specific heat revealing significant deviation from Debye's description.The estimated Debye temperature is small in the range of 100-200 K and varies significantly depending upon the measurement used in its experimental determination.The thermodynamic Gr¨uneisen ratioγreveals a remarkable reduction below about 100 K,an energy scale that is highly relevant to the Dirac states,towards negative values below about 10 K that are indicative of lattice instability.

一种在室温附近具有高热电性能的准一维块体材料

在低维材料体系中探索高热电性能是热电材料研究领域的一个重要方向.实际上,近年来所发现的热电材料中的很大一部分,比如Bi_(2)Te_(3),SnSe,Mg_(3)Sb_(2)等,都具有准二维晶体结构.但是,到目前为止对准一维材料的热电研究还非常少见.本文报道了一种在室温附近具有高热电性能的准一维块体材料:TLCu_(3)Te_(2).在室温下,该材料沿单晶针状方向具有高达1.3的热电优值;在400 K时,其热电优值甚至可以达到1.5,一定程度超越了目前该温区的商用材料热电性能.通过详细的热电输运实验并结合第一性原理计算,作者发现TlCu_(3)Te_(2)的高热电优值主要起源于饼状费米口袋的高度各向异性准一维电子色散关系带来的大热电功率因子,以及准一维重元素复杂晶格导致的极低热导率.该研究表明准一维块体材料中的单轴性热电效应是一个值得深入探索的热电材料新领地.

Generic Seebeck effect from spin entropy

How magnetism affects the Seebeck effect is an important issue of wide concern in the thermoelectric community but remains elusive.Based on a thermodynamic analysis of spin degrees of freedom on varied d-electron-based ferromagnets and antiferromagnets,we demonstrate that in itinerant or partially itinerant magnetic compounds there exists a generic spin contribution to the Seebeck effect over an extended temperature range from slightly below to well above the magnetic transition temperature.This contribution is interpreted as resulting from transport spin entropy of(partially)delocalized conducting d electrons with strong thermal spin fluctuations,even semiquantitatively in a single-band case,in addition to the conventional diffusion part arising from their kinetic degrees of freedom.As a highly generic effect,the spin-dependent Seebeck effect might pave a feasible way toward efficient“magnetic thermoelectrics.”

Large transverse thermoelectric figure of merit in a topological Dirac semimetal

The Seebeck effect encounters a few fundamental constraints hindering its thermoelectric(TE)conversion efficiency.Most notably,there are the charge compensation of electrons and holes that diminishes this effect,and the Wiedemann-Franz(WF)law that makes independent optimization of the corresponding electrical and thermal conductivities impossible.Here,we demonstrate that in the topological Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 the Nernst effect,i.e.,the transverse counterpart of the Seebeck effect,can generate a large TE figure of merit zNT.At room temperature,zNT≈0.5 in a small field of 2 T and it significantly surmounts its longitudinal counterpart for any field.A large Nernst effect is generically expected in topological semimetals,benefiting from both the bipolar transport of compensated electrons and holes and their high mobilities.In this case,heat and charge transport are orthogonal,i.e.,not intertwined by the WF law anymore.More importantly,further optimization of zNT by tuning the Fermi level to the Dirac node can be anticipated due to not only the enhanced bipolar transport,but also the anomalous Nernst effect arising from a pronounced Berry curvature.A combination of the topologically trivial and nontrivial advantages promises to open a new avenue towards high-efficient transverse thermoelectricity.