Doping-induced magnetism in the semiconducting B20 compound RuGe

Abstract

RuGe, a diamagnetic small-band gap semiconductor, and CoGe, a nonmagnetic semimetal, are both isostructural to the Kondo insulator FeSi and the skyrmion lattice host MnSi. Here, we have explored the magnetic and transport properties of Co-doped RuGe: Ru${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$Ge. For small values of $x$, a magnetic ground state emerges with $T_c\approx$ 5 $-$ 9 K, which is accompanied by a moderate decrease in electrical resistivity and a Seebeck coefficient that indicates electron-like charge carriers. The magnetization, magnetoresistance, and the specific heat capacity all resemble that of Fe${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$Si for similar Co substitution levels, suggesting that Ru${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$Ge hosts equally as interesting magnetic and charge carrier transport properties.

10 pages, 10 figures