Publication Date:
2018-08-06
Description:
We report anomalous physical properties of high-quality single-crystalline FeSi over a wide temperature range of 1.8–400 K. The electrical resistivity ρ(T) can be described by activated behavior with an energy gap Δ = 57 meV between 150 and 67 K, below which the estimated energy gap is significantly smaller. The magneto-resistivity and Hall coefficient change sign in the vicinity of 67 K, suggesting a change of dominant charge carriers. At ∼19 K, ρ(T) undergoes a cross-over from semiconducting to metallic behavior which is very robust against external magnetic fields. The low-temperature metallic conductivity depends strongly on the width/thickness of the sample. In addition, no indication of a bulk-phase transition or onset of magnetic order is found down to 2 K from specific heat and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The measurements are consistent with one another and point to complex electronic transport behavior that apparently involves a conducting surface state in FeSi at low temperatures, suggesting the possibility that FeSi is a 3D topological insulator.
Print ISSN:
0027-8424
Electronic ISSN:
1091-6490
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
Permalink