Chemical Vapor Transport Synthesis and Characterization of LnSbxTe2-x-𝛿 Compounds (Ln = Tb, Ho, La/Ho)

Abstract

Topological semimetals (TSMs) are characterized by nontrivial band topology, indicated in the band structure by the presence of a Dirac node, Weyl node, or nodal line, along with the lack of a band gap and a low density of states at the Fermi energy1. TSMs hosting Dirac nodes demonstrate low resistivity at low temperatures, suggesting potential applications in high-speed electronic and optoelectronic devices7. The LnSbxTe2-x-𝛿 (Ln = Lanthanide) family of crystalline solids are of interest due to their isostructural relationship with ZrSiS, a canonical TSM, and their unique magnetic properties created by the 4f electrons of lanthanides[1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 35]. In this work, HoSbxTe2-x-𝛿, TbSbxTe2-x-𝛿, and La1-yHoySbxTe2-x-𝛿 crystals were synthesized using chemical vapor transport (CVT) and characterized using SEM-EDS, PXRD, and MPMS. CVT permits the synthesis of LnSbxTe2-x-𝛿 crystals at different values of x, allowing the Sb square net to be electronically substituted with Te; charge density waves (CDWs) have been demonstrated to form in the presence of sufficient electronic substitution in the square net[2, 3, 4, 5, 8] . HoSbxTe2-x-𝛿 crystals were not successfully synthesized using chemical vapor transport. TbSbxTe2-x-𝛿 crystals have demonstrated complex metamagnetic transitions as well as antiferromagnetism at low temperatures. La1-yHoySbxTe2-x-𝛿 crystals were successfully synthesized and characterized using SEM-EDS and PXRD, showing the presence of a mixture of La and Ho as the lanthanide incorporated into the LnSbxTe2-x-𝛿 lattice.