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We report a study on the magnetotransport properties and on the Fermi surfaces (FS) of the ZrSi(Se,Te) semimetals. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, in absence of spin orbit coupling (SOC), reveal that both the Se and the Te compounds display Dirac nodal lines (DNL) close to the Fermi level $\varepsilon_F$ at symmorphic and non-symmorphic positions, respectively. We find that the geometry of their FSs agrees well with DFT predictions. ZrSiSe displays low residual resistivities, pronounced magnetoresistivity, high carrier mobilities, and a butterfly-like angle-dependent magnetoresistivity (AMR), although its DNL is not protected against gap opening. As in Cd$_3$As$_2$, its transport lifetime is found to be 10$^2$ to 10$^3$ times larger than its quantum one. ZrSiTe, which possesses a protected DNL, displays conventional transport properties. Our evaluation indicates that both compounds most likely are topologically trivial. Nearly angle-independent effective masses with strong angle dependent quantum lifetimes lead to the butterfly AMR in ZrSiSe.

We present a detailed quantum oscillatory study on the Dirac type-II semimetallic candidates PdTe$_{2}$ and PtTe$_{2}$ \emph{via} the temperature and the angular dependence of the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effects. In high quality single crystals of both compounds, i.e. displaying carrier mobilities between $10^3$ and $10^4$ cm$^2$/Vs, we observed a large non-saturating magnetoresistivity (MR) which in PtTe$_2$ at a temperature $T = 1.3$ K, leads to an increase in the resistivity up to $5 \times 10^{4}$ % under a magnetic field $\mu_0 H = 62$ T. These high mobilities correlate with their light effective masses in the range of 0.04 to 1 bare electron mass according to our measurements. For PdTe$_{2}$ the experimentally determined Fermi surface cross-sectional areas show an excellent agreement with those resulting from band-structure calculations. Surprisingly, this is not the case for PtTe$_{2}$ whose agreement between calculations and experiments is relatively poor even when electronic correlations are included in the calculations. Therefore, our study provides a strong support for the existence of a Dirac type-II node in PdTe$_2$ and probably also for PtTe$_2$. Band structure calculations indicate that the topologically non-trivial bands of PtTe$_2$ do not cross the Fermi-level ($\varepsilon_F$). In contrast, for PdTe$_2$ the Dirac type-II cone does intersect $\varepsilon_F$, although our calculations also indicate that the associated cyclotron orbit on the Fermi surface is located in a distinct $k_z$ plane with respect to the one of the Dirac type-II node. Therefore it should yield a trivial Berry-phase., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures

We report complex metamagnetic transitions in single crystals of the new low carrier Kondo antiferromagnet YbRh3Si7. Electrical transport, magnetization, and specific heat measurements reveal antiferromagnetic order at T_N = 7.5 K. Neutron diffraction measurements show that the magnetic ground state of YbRh3Si7 is a collinear antiferromagnet where the moments are aligned in the ab plane. With such an ordered state, no metamagnetic transitions are expected when a magnetic field is applied along the c axis. It is therefore surprising that high field magnetization, torque, and resistivity measurements with H||c reveal two metamagnetic transitions at mu_0H_1 = 6.7 T and mu_0H_2 = 21 T. When the field is tilted away from the c axis, towards the ab plane, both metamagnetic transitions are shifted to higher fields. The first metamagnetic transition leads to an abrupt increase in the electrical resistivity, while the second transition is accompanied by a dramatic reduction in the electrical resistivity. Thus, the magnetic and electronic degrees of freedom in YbRh3Si7 are strongly coupled. We discuss the origin of the anomalous metamagnetism and conclude that it is related to competition between crystal electric field anisotropy and anisotropic exchange interactions., Comment: 23 pages and 4 figures in the main text. 7 pages and 5 figures in the supplementary material

We report a de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect study on the Dirac type-II semimetallic candidates \emph{M}Al$_3$ (where, \emph{M} = V, Nb and Ta). The angular-dependence of their Fermi surface (FS) cross-sectional areas reveals a remarkably good agreement with first-principle calculations. Therefore, dHvA supports the existence of tilted Dirac cones with Dirac type-II nodes located at 100, 230 and 250 meV above the Fermi level $\varepsilon_F$ for VAl$_3$, NbAl$_3$ and TaAl$_3$ respectively, in agreement with the prediction of broken Lorentz invariance in these compounds. However, for all three compounds we find that the cyclotron orbits on their FSs, including an orbit nearly enclosing the Dirac type-II node, yield trivial Berry phases. We explain this $via$ an analysis of the Berry phase where the position of this orbit, relative to the Dirac node, is adjusted within the error implied by the small disagreement between our calculations and the experiments. We suggest that a very small amount of doping could displace $\varepsilon_F$ to produce topologically non-trivial orbits encircling their Dirac node(s)., Comment: 6 pages and 4 figures

An investigation of the structural, thermodynamic, and electronic transport properties of the isoelectronic chemical substitution series Ce(Pd$_{1-x}$Ni$_x$)$_2$P$_2$ is reported, where a possible ferromagnetic quantum critical point is uncovered in the temperature - concentration ($T-x$) phase diagram. This behavior results from the simultaneous contraction of the unit cell volume, which tunes the relative strengths of the Kondo and RKKY interactions, and the introduction of disorder through alloying. Near the critical region at $x_{\rm{cr}}$ $\approx$ 0.7, the rate of contraction of the unit cell volume strengthens, indicating that the cerium $f$-valence crosses over from trivalent to a non-integer value. Consistent with this picture, x-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements reveal that while CePd$_2$P$_2$ has a purely trivalent cerium $f$-state, CeNi$_2$P$_2$ has a small ($<$ 10 \%) tetravalent contribution. In a broad region around $x_{\rm{cr}}$, there is a breakdown of Fermi liquid temperature dependences, signaling the influence of quantum critical fluctuations and disorder effects. Measurements of clean CePd$_2$P$_2$ furthermore show that applied pressure has a similar initial effect to alloying on the ferromagnetic order. From these results, CePd$_2$P$_2$ emerges as a keystone system to test theories such as the Belitz-Kirkpatrick-Vojta model for ferromagnetic quantum criticality, where distinct behaviors are expected in the dirty and clean limits., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

Weyl type-II fermions are massless quasiparticles that obey the Weyl equation and which are predicted to occur at the boundary between electron- and hole-pockets in certain semi-metals, i.e. the (W,Mo)(Te,P)$_2$ compounds. Here, we present a study of the Fermi-surface of WP$_2$ \emph{via} the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect. Compared to other semi-metals WP$_2$ exhibits a very low residual resistivity, i.e. $\rho_0 \simeq 10$ n$\Omega$cm, which leads to perhaps the largest non-saturating magneto-resistivity $(\rho(H))$ reported for any compound. For the samples displaying the smallest $\rho_0$, $\rho(H)$ is observed to increase by a factor of $2.5 \times 10^{7}$ $\%$ under $\mu_{0}H = 35$ T at $T = 0.35$ K. The angular dependence of the SdH frequencies is found to be in very good agreement with the first-principle calculations when the electron- and hole-bands are slightly shifted with respect to the Fermi level, thus supporting the existence of underlying Weyl type-II points in WP$_2$., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, supplementary information not included

We evaluate the topological character of TaAs through a detailed study of the angular, magnetic-field and temperature dependence of its magnetoresistivity and Hall-effect(s), and of its bulk electronic structure through quantum oscillatory phenomena. At low temperatures, and for fields perpendicular to the electrical current, we extract an extremely large Hall angle $\Theta_H$ at higher fields, that is $\Theta_H \sim 82.5^{\circ}$, implying a very pronounced Hall signal superimposed into its magnetoresistivity. For magnetic fields and electrical currents perpendicular to the \emph{c}-axis we observe a very pronounced planar Hall-effect, when the magnetic field is rotated within the basal plane. This effect is observed even at higher temperatures, i.e. as high as $T = 100$ K, and predicted recently to result from the chiral anomaly among Weyl points. Superimposed onto this planar Hall, which is an even function of the field, we observe an anomalous planar Hall-signal akin to the one reported for that is an odd function of the field. Below 100 K, negative longitudinal magnetoresistivity (LMR), initially ascribed to the chiral anomaly and subsequently to current inhomogeneities, is observed in samples having different geometries and contact configurations, once the large Hall signal is subtracted. Our measurements reveal a phase transition upon approaching the quantum limit that leads to the reconstruction of the FS and to the concomitant suppression of the negative LMR indicating that it is intrinsically associated with the Weyl dispersion at the Fermi level. For fields along the \emph{a}-axis it also leads to a pronounced hysteresis pointing to a field-induced electronic phase-transition. This collection of unconventional tranport observations points to the prominent role played by the axial anomaly among Weyl nodes., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Supplemental File not included

The temperature ($T$) - magnetic field ($H$) phase diagram for the tetragonal layered compound CeSbSe, is determined from magnetization, specific heat, and electrical resistivity measurements. This system exhibits complex magnetic ordering at $T_{\rm{M}}$ $=$ 3 K and the application of a magnetic field results in a cascade of magnetically ordered states for $H$ $\lesssim$ 1.8 T which are characterized by fractional integer size steps: i.e., a possible Devil's staircase is observed. Electrical transport measurements show a weak temperature dependence and large residual resistivity which suggest a small charge carrier density and strong scattering from the $f$-moments. These features reveal Kondo lattice behavior where the $f$-moments are incompletely screened, resulting in a fine balanced magnetic interaction between different Ce neighbors that is mediated by the RKKY interaction. This produces the nearly degenerate magnetically ordered states that are accessed under an applied magnetic field.

MoTe$_2$ is an exfoliable transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) which crystallizes in three symmetries, the semiconducting trigonal-prismatic $2H-$phase, the semimetallic $1T^{\prime}$ monoclinic phase, and the semimetallic orthorhombic $T_d$ structure. The $2H-$phase displays a band gap of $\sim 1$ eV making it appealing for flexible and transparent optoelectronics. The $T_d-$phase is predicted to possess unique topological properties which might lead to topologically protected non-dissipative transport channels. Recently, it was argued that it is possible to locally induce phase-transformations in TMDs, through chemical doping, local heating, or electric-field to achieve ohmic contacts or to induce useful functionalities such as electronic phase-change memory elements. The combination of semiconducting and topological elements based upon the same compound, might produce a new generation of high performance, low dissipation optoelectronic elements. Here, we show that it is possible to engineer the phases of MoTe$_2$ through W substitution by unveiling the phase-diagram of the Mo$_{1-x}$W$_x$Te$_2$ solid solution which displays a semiconducting to semimetallic transition as a function of $x$. We find that only $\sim 8$ \% of W stabilizes the $T_d-$phase at room temperature. Photoemission spectroscopy, indicates that this phase possesses a Fermi surface akin to that of WTe$_2$., Comment: 10 paged, 5 pages, supplementary information not included

The electronic structure of WTe$_2$ and orthorhombic $\gamma-$MoTe$_2$, are claimed to contain pairs of Weyl type-II points. A series of ARPES experiments claim a broad agreement with these predictions. We synthesized single-crystals of MoTe$_2$ through a Te flux method to validate these predictions through measurements of its bulk Fermi surface (FS) \emph{via} quantum oscillatory phenomena. We find that the superconducting transition temperature of $\gamma-$MoTe$_2$ depends on disorder as quantified by the ratio between the room- and low-temperature resistivities, suggesting the possibility of an unconventional superconducting pairing symmetry. Similarly to WTe$_2$, the magnetoresistivity of $\gamma-$MoTe$_2$ does not saturate at high magnetic fields and can easily surpass $10^{6}$ \%. Remarkably, the analysis of the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) signal superimposed onto the magnetic torque, indicates that the geometry of its FS is markedly distinct from the calculated one. The dHvA signal also reveals that the FS is affected by the Zeeman-effect precluding the extraction of the Berry-phase. A direct comparison between the previous ARPES studies and density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations reveals a disagreement in the position of the valence bands relative to the Fermi level $\varepsilon_F$. Here, we show that a shift of the DFT valence bands relative to $\varepsilon_F$, in order to match the ARPES observations, and of the DFT electron bands to explain some of the observed dHvA frequencies, leads to a good agreement between the calculations and the angular dependence of the FS cross-sectional areas observed experimentally. However, this relative displacement between electron- and hole-bands eliminates their crossings and, therefore, the Weyl type-II points predicted for $\gamma-$MoTe$_2$., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, supplementary file not included (in press)