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Evidence of a coupled electron-phonon liquid in NbGe$_2$
- Source :
- Nat. Commun. 12, 5292 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Whereas electron-phonon scattering typically relaxes the electron's momentum in metals, a perpetual exchange of momentum between phonons and electrons conserves total momentum and can lead to a coupled electron-phonon liquid with unique transport properties. This theoretical idea was proposed decades ago and has been revisited recently, but the experimental signatures of an electron-phonon liquid have been rarely reported. We present evidence of such a behavior in a transition metal ditetrelide, NbGe$_2$, from three different experiments. First, quantum oscillations reveal an enhanced quasiparticle mass, which is unexpected in NbGe$_2$ due to weak electron-electron correlations, hence pointing at electron-phonon interactions. Second, resistivity measurements exhibit a discrepancy between the experimental data and calculated curves within a standard Fermi liquid theory. Third, Raman scattering shows anomalous temperature dependence of the phonon linewidths which fits an empirical model based on phonon-electron coupling. We discuss structural factors, such as chiral symmetry, short metallic bonds, and a low-symmetry coordination environment as potential sources of coupled electron-phonon liquids.<br />Comment: Preprint, 18 pages, 4 figures
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Journal :
- Nat. Commun. 12, 5292 (2021)
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2103.01515
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25547-x