Charge density wave in layered La1-xCexSb2

Article

关键词: LINEAR MAGNETORESISTANCE;    FLUCTUATING STRIPES;    MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES;    SUPERCONDUCTIVITY;    VORTICES;    CRYSTALS;    STATES;    PHASE;    ORDER;   

DOI  :  10.1103/PhysRevB.92.235153

来源: SCIE

【 摘 要 】

The layered rare-earth diantimonides RSb2 are anisotropic metals with generally low electronic densities whose properties can be modified by substituting the rare earth. LaSb2 is a nonmagnetic metal with a low residual resistivity presenting a low-temperature magnetoresistance that does not saturate with the magnetic field. It has been proposed that the latter can be associated to a charge density wave (CDW), but no CDW has yet been found. Here we find a kink in the resistivity above room temperature in LaSb2 (at 355 K) and show that the kink becomes much more pronounced with substitution of La by Ce along the La1-xCexSb2 series. We find signatures of a CDW in x-ray scattering, specific heat, and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments in particular for x approximate to 0.5. We observe a distortion of rare-earth-Sb bonds lying in-plane of the tetragonal crystal using x-ray scattering, an anomaly in the specific heat at the same temperature as the kink in resistivity and charge modulations in STM. We conclude that LaSb2 has a CDW which is stabilized in the La1-xCexSb2 series due to substitutional disorder.

【 授权许可】

Free