Large Magnetoresistance and Nontrivial Berry Phase in Nb_(3)Sb Crystals with A15 Structure

Compounds with the A15 structure have attracted extensive attention due to their superconductivity and nontrivial topological band structures.We have successfully grown Nb_(3)Sb single crystals with the A15 structure and systematically measured the longitudinal resistivity,Hall resistivity and quantum oscillations in magnetization.Similar to other topological trivial/nontrivial semimetals,Nb_(3)Sb exhibits large magnetoresistance(MR)at low temperatures(717%,2 K and 9 T),unsaturating quadratic field dependence of MR and up-turn behavior in ρ_(xx)(T)curves under magnetic field,which is considered to result from a perfect hole-electron compensation,as evidenced by the Hall resistivity measurements.The nonzero Berry phase obtained from the de-Hass van Alphen(dHvA)oscillations demonstrates that Nb_(3)Sb is topologically nontrivial.These results indicate that Nb_(3)Sb superconductor is also a semimetal with large MR and nontrivial Berry phase.This indicates that Nb_(3)Sb may be another platform to search for the Majorana zero-energy mode.

Magnetoresistance and Kondo Effect in Nodal-Line Semimetal VAs_(2)

We performed calculations of the electronic band structure and the Fermi surface,measured the longitudinal resistivity ρxx(T,H),Hall resistivity ρxy(T,H),and magnetic susceptibility as a function of temperature at various magnetic fields for VAs_(2) with a monoclinic crystal structure.The band structure calculations show that VAs_(2) is a nodal-line semimetal when spin-orbit coupling is ignored.The emergence of a minimum at around11 K in ρxx(T) measured at H=0 demonstrates that some additional magnetic impurities(V^(4+),S=1/2)exist in VAs_(2) single crystals,inducing Kondo scattering,evidenced by both the fitting of ρxx(T) data and the susceptibility measurements.It is found that a large positive magnetoresistance(MR) reaching 649% at 10 K and 9 T,its nearly quadratic field dependence,and a field-induced up-turn behavior of ρxx(T) also emerge in VAs_(2),although MR is not so large due to the existence of additional scattering compared with other topological nontrivial/trivial semimetals.The observed properties are attributed to a perfect charge-carrier compensation,which is evidenced by both the calculations relying on the Fermi surface and the Hall resistivity measurements.These results indicate that the compounds containing V(3d^(3)4s^(2)) element can be as a platform for studying the influence of magnetic impurities to the topological properties.

Metamagnetic transitions and anomalous magnetoresistance in EuAg4As2 crystals

In this work,we systematically studied the magnetic and transport properties of EuAg4As2 single crystals.It was found that the two antiferromagnetic transitions(TN1=10 K and TN2=15 K)were driven to lower temperatures by an applied magnetic field.Below TN1,two successive metamagnetic transitions were observed when a magnetic field was applied in the ab plane(H//abplane).For both H//ab and H//c,EuAg4As2 showed a positive,unexpectedly large magnetoresistance(up to 202%)in lower magnetic fields below TN1,and a large negative magnetoresistance(up to-78%)at high fields/intermediate temperatures,thus presenting potential applications in magnetic sensors.Finally,the magnetic phase diagrams of EuAg4As2 were constructed for both H//ab and H//c using the resistivity and magnetisation data.

Annealing-induced long-range charge density wave order in magnetic kagome FeGe:Fluctuations and disordered structure

Charge density wave(CDW) in kagome materials with the geometric frustration is able to carry unconventional characteristics.Recently, a CDW has been observed below the antiferromagnetic order in kagome FeGe, in which magnetism and CDW are intertwined to form an emergent quantum ground state. However, the CDW is only short-ranged and the structural modulation originating from it has yet to be determined experimentally. Here we realize a long-range CDW order by post-annealing process,and resolve the structure model through single crystal X-ray diffraction. Occupational disorder of Ge resulting from short-range CDW correlations above T_(CDW) is identified from structure refinements. The partial dimerization of Ge along the c axis is unveiled to be the dominant distortion for the CDW. Occupational disorder of Ge is also proved to exist in the CDW phase due to the random selection of partially dimerized Ge sites. Our work provides useful insights for understanding the unconventional nature of the CDW in FeGe.

Highly insulating phase of Bi_(2)O_(2)Se thin films with high electronic performance

Bi_(2)O_(2)Se is highly competitive as a candidate of next-generation high-performance semiconductors.Though dubbed as semiconductor,Bi_(2)O_(2)Se films exhibited high conductance,i.e.,metallic behavior,due to spontaneously ionized defects.Semiconducting/insulating films are of practical importance in broad applications based on low-power,high-performance electronics,the existence of which lacks firm evidence.Here,we synthesized highly insulating films in a controlled way,which exhibit semiconducting behavior with channel resistance up to 1 TΩ.The electron chemical potential lies within the band gap,in some cases,even below the charge neutrality level,signifying the trace of hole-type semiconducting.The performance of insulating devices remains high,comparable to high-quality devices previously.Especially,the threshold voltage(Vth)is positive,contrary to common negative values reported.Calculations indicate that our synthesis conditions suppress electron donors(Se vacancies(VSe))and promote the formation of compensating acceptors(Bi vacancies(VBi)),leading to insulating behaviors.Our work offers insights into electron dynamics of Bi_(2)O_(2)Se,moves one step further towards p-type transistors and provides a valuable playground for engineering ferroelectricity in high-performance semiconductors.

Bulk superconductivity in the Dirac semimetal TlSb

A feasible strategy for realizing the Majorana fermions is searching for a simple compound with both bulk superconductivity and Dirac surface states.In this paper,we perform calculations of electronic band structure,the Fermi surface,and the surface states,and measure the resistivity,magnetization,and specific heat of a TlSb compound with a CsCl-type structure.The band structure calculations show that TlSb is a Dirac semimetal when spin-orbit coupling is considered.TlSb is first determined to be a type-Ⅱsuperconductor with T_(c)=4.38 K,Hc1(0)=148 Oe,H_(c2)(0)=1.12 T,andκ_(GL)=10.6.We also confirm that TlSb is a moderately coupled s-wave superconductor.Although we cannot determine the band near the Fermi level EF that is responsible for superconductivity,its coexistence with topological surface states implies that the TlSb compound may be a simple material platform to realize the fault-tolerant quantum computations.