"Hard" crystalline lattice in the Weyl semimetal NbAs

Abstract

We report the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the magnetotransport properties of the Weyl semimetal NbAs. Subtle changes can be seen in the ${\rho }_{xx}(T)$ profiles with pressure up to 2.31 GPa. The Fermi surfaces undergo an anisotropic evolution under pressure: the extremal areas slightly increase in the ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{x}}$-${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{y}}$ plane, but decrease in the ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{z}}$-${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{y}}$(${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{x}}$) plane. The topological features of the two pockets observed at atmospheric pressure, however, remain unchanged at 2.31 GPa. No superconductivity can be seen down to 0.3 K for all the pressures measured. By fitting the temperature dependence of specific heat to the Debye model, we obtain a small Sommerfeld coefficient ${\gamma }_0=$ 0.09(1) mJ/(mol$\cdot$K${}^2$) and a large Debye temperature, ${\Theta }_D=$ 450(9) K, confirming a "hard" crystalline lattice that is stable under pressure. We also studied the Kadowaki-Woods ratio of this low-carrier-density massless system, $R_{KW}=$ 3.2$\times 10^4$ $\mu \Omega$ cm mol${}^2$ K${}^2$ J${}^{-2}$. After accounting for the small carrier density in NbAs, this $R_{KW}$ indicates a suppressed transport scattering rate relative to other metals.

12 pages, 5 figures, 1 table

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• Pressure tuning the Fermi-surface topology of the Weyl semimetal NbP
• Coexistence of Weyl Physics and Planar Defects in Semimetals TaP and TaAs
• Non-stoichiometry and Defects in the Weyl Semimetals TaAs, TaP, NbP, and NbAs
• Uncovering Electron-Phonon Scattering and Phonon Dynamics in Type-I Weyl Semimetals
• Quantum oscillations in Noncentrosymmetric Weyl semimetals RAlSi (R = Sm and Ce)
• Orbital effect and weak localization physics in the longitudinal magnetoresistance of the Weyl semimetals NbP, NbAs, TaP and TaAs
• Evidence for pressure-induced node-pair annihilation in Cd3As2
• Pressure effect on the topologically nontrivial electronic state and transport of lutecium monobismuthide
• Pressure-induced Lifshitz transition in NbP: Raman, x-ray diffraction, electrical transport and density functional theory
• Weyl nodes close to the Fermi energy in NbAs
• Pressure-tuning of the electrical-transport properties in the Weyl semimetal TaP