Resonant impurity states in chemically disordered half-Heusler Dirac semimetals

Chadova, K.; Ködderitzsch, D.; Minár, J.; Ebert, H.; Kiss, J.; D'Souza, S. W.; Wollmann, L.; Felser, C. und Chadov, S. (2016): Resonant impurity states in chemically disordered half-Heusler Dirac semimetals. In: Physical Review B, Bd. 93, Nr. 19, 195102

Abstract

We address the electron transport characteristics in bulk half-Heusler alloys with their compositions tuned to the borderline between topologically nontrivial semimetallic and trivial semiconducting phases. Accurate first-principles calculations based on the coherent potential approximation (CPA) reveal that all the studied systems exhibit sets of dispersionless impurity-like resonant levels, with one of them being located at the Dirac point. By means of the Kubo-Bastin formalism we reveal that the residual conductivity of these alloys is strongly suppressed by impurity scattering, whereas the spin Hall conductivity exhibits a rather complex behavior induced by the resonant states. In particular for LaPt0.5Pd0.5Bi we find that the total spin Hall conductivity is strongly suppressed by two large and opposite contributions: the negative Fermi-surface contribution produced by the resonant impurity and the positive Fermi-sea term stemming from the occupied states. At the same time, we identify no conductivity contributions from the conical states.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Chemie und Pharmazie > Department Chemie
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 540 Chemie
• ISSN: 2469-9950
• Sprache: Englisch