Ce₃Bi₄Ni₃ – A large hybridization-gap variant of Ce₃Bi₄Pt₃

Author(s)

D. M. Kirschbaum, X. Yan, M. Waas, R. Svagera, A. Prokofiev, B. Stöger, Gerald Giester, P. Rogl, D.-G. Oprea, C. Felser, R. Valentí, M. G. Vergniory, J. Custers, Silke Paschen, D. A. Zocco

Abstract

The family of cubic noncentrosymmetric 3-4-3 compounds has become a fertile ground for the discovery of novel correlated metallic and insulating phases. Here, we report the synthesis of a new heavy fermion compound, Ce3Bi4Ni3. It is an isoelectronic analog of the prototypical Kondo insulator Ce3Bi4Pt3 and of the recently discovered Weyl-Kondo semimetal Ce3Bi4Pd3. In contrast to the volume-preserving Pt-Pd substitution, structural and chemical analyses reveal a positive chemical pressure effect in Ce3Bi4Ni3 relative to its heavier counterparts. Based on the results of electrical resistivity, Hall effect, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat measurements, we identify an energy gap of 65-70 meV, about eight times larger than that in Ce3Bi4Pt3 and about 45 times larger than that of the Kondo-insulating background hosting the Weyl nodes in Ce3Bi4Pd3. We show that this gap as well as other physical properties do not evolve monotonically with increasing atomic number, i.e., in the sequence Ce3Bi4Ni3-Ce3Bi4Pd3-Ce3Bi4Pt3, but instead with increasing partial electronic density of states of the d orbitals at the Fermi energy. This work opens the possibility to investigate the conditions under which topological states develop in this series of strongly correlated 3-4-3 materials.

Organisation(s)

Department of Mineralogy and Crystallography, Department of Materials Chemistry

External organisation(s)

Technische Universität Wien, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), Charles University Prague

Journal

Physical Review Research

Volume

6

Pages

1-11

No. of pages

11

ISSN

2643-1564

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.023242

Publication date

04-2024

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

104006 Solid state chemistry, 105116 Mineralogy, 105113 Crystallography

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/a6e3e85e-533e-48c1-b91c-cc18d921ee22