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The noncentrosymmetric transition metal monopnictides NbP, TaP, NbAs and TaAs are a family of Weyl semimetals in which pairs of protected linear crossings of spin-resolved bands occur. These so-called Weyl nodes are characterized by integer topological charges of opposite sign associated with singular points of Berry curvature in momentum space. In such a system anomalous magnetoelectric responses are predicted, which should only occur if the crossing points are close to the Fermi level and enclosed by Fermi surface pockets penetrated by an integer flux of Berry curvature, dubbed Weyl pockets. TaAs was shown to possess Weyl pockets whereas TaP and NbP have trivial pockets enclosing zero net flux of Berry curvature. Here, via measurements of the magnetic torque, resistivity and magnetisation, we present a comprehensive quantum oscillation study of NbAs, the last member of this family where the precise shape and nature of the Fermi surface pockets is still unknown. We detect six distinct frequency branches, two of which have not been observed before. A comparison to density functional theory calculations suggests that the two largest pockets are topologically trivial, whereas the low frequencies might stem from tiny Weyl pockets. The enclosed Weyl nodes are within a few meV of the Fermi energy.

The delafossite series of layered oxides include some of the highest conductivity metals ever discovered. Of these, PtCoO2, with a room temperature resistivity of 1.8 microOhmcm for in-plane transport, is the most conducting of all. The high conduction takes place in triangular lattice Pt layers, separated by layers of Co-O octahedra, and the electronic structure is determined by the interplay of the two types of layer. We present a detailed study of quantum oscillations in PtCoO2, at temperatures down to 35 mK and magnetic fields up to 30 T. As for PdCoO2 and PdRhO2, the Fermi surface consists of a single cylinder with mainly Pt character, and an effective mass close to the free electron value. Due to Fermi-surface warping, two close-lying high frequencies are observed. Additionally, a pronounced difference frequency appears. By analysing the detailed angular dependence of the quantum-oscillation frequencies, we establish the warping parameters of the Fermi surface. We compare these results to the predictions of first-principles electronic structure calculations including spin-orbit coupling on Pt and Co and on-site correlation U on Co, and hence demonstrate that electronic correlations in the Co-O layers play an important role in determining characteristic features of the electronic structure of PtCoO2.

Weyl semimetals such as the TaAs family (TaAs, TaP, NbAs, NbP) host quasiparticle excitations resembling the long sought after Weyl fermions at special band-crossing points in the band structure denoted as Weyl nodes. They are predicted to exhibit a negative longitudinal magnetoresistance (LMR) due to the chiral anomaly if the Fermi energy is sufficiently close to the Weyl points. However, current jetting effects, i.e. current inhomogeneities caused by a strong, field-induced conductivity anisotropy in semimetals, have a similar experimental signature and therefore have hindered a determination of the intrinsic LMR in the TaAs family so far. This work investigates the longitudinal magnetoresistance of all four members of this family along the crystallographic $a$ and $c$ direction. Our samples are of similar quality as those previously studied in the literature and have a similar chemical potential as indicated by matching quantum oscillation (QO) frequencies. Care was taken to ensure homogeneous currents in all measurements. As opposed to previous studies where this was not done, we find a positive LMR that saturates in fields above 4 T in TaP, NbP and NbAs for $B||c$. Using Fermi-surface geometries from band structure calculations that had been confirmed by experiment, we show that this is the behaviour expected from a classical purely orbital effect, independent on the distance of the Weyl node to the Fermi energy. The TaAs family of compounds is the first to show such a simple LMR without apparent influences of scattering anisotropy. In configurations where the orbital effect is small, i.e. for $B||a$ in NbAs and NbP, we find a non-monotonous LMR including regions of negative LMR. We discuss a weak antilocalisation scenario as an alternative interpretation than the chiral anomaly for these results, since it can fully account for the overall field dependence.

Terbium titanate (Tb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$) is a spin-ice material with remarkable magneto-optical properties. It has a high Verdet constant and is a promising substrate crystal for the epitaxy of quantum materials with the pyrochlore structure. Large single crystals with adequate quality of Tb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ or any pyrochlore are not available so far. Here we report the growth of high-quality bulk crystals using the Czochralski method to pull crystals from the melt. Prior work using the automated Czochralski method has suffered from growth instabilities like diameter fluctuation, foot formation and subsequent spiraling shortly after the seeding stage. In this study, the volumes of the crystals were strongly increased to several cubic centimeters by means of manual growth control, leading to crystal diameters up to 40 mm and crystal lengths up to 10 mm. Rocking curve measurements revealed full width at half maximum values between 28 and 40" for 222 reflections. The specific heat capacity c$_p$ was measured between room temperature and 1573 K by dynamic differential scanning calorimetry and shows the typical slow parabolic rise. In contrast, the thermal conductivity \kappa(T) shows a minimum near 700 K and increases at higher temperature T. Optical spectroscopy was performed at room temperature from the ultraviolet to the near infrared region, and additionally in the near infrared region up to 1623 K. The optical transmission properties and the crystal color are interpreted to be influenced by partial oxidation of Tb$^{3+}$ to Tb$^{4+}$., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted for CrystEngComm

Recently, the existence of massless chiral (Weyl) fermions has been postulated in a class of semi-metals with a non-trivial energy dispersion.These materials are now commonly dubbed Weyl semi-metals (WSM).One predicted property of Weyl fermions is the chiral or Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly, a chirality imbalance in the presence of parallel magnetic and electric fields. In WSM, it is expected to induce a negative longitudinal magnetoresistance (NMR), the chiral magnetic effect.Here, we present experimental evidence that the observation of the chiral magnetic effect can be hindered by an effect called "current jetting". This effect also leads to a strong apparent NMR, but it is characterized by a highly non-uniform current distribution inside the sample. It appears in materials possessing a large field-induced anisotropy of the resistivity tensor, such as almost compensated high-mobility semimetals due to the orbital effect.In case of a non-homogeneous current injection, the potential distribution is strongly distorted in the sample.As a consequence, an experimentally measured potential difference is not proportional to the intrinsic resistance.Our results on the MR of the WSM candidate materials NbP, NbAs, TaAs, TaP exhibit distinct signatures of an inhomogeneous current distribution, such as a field-induced "zero resistance' and a strong dependence of the `measured resistance" on the position, shape, and type of the voltage and current contacts on the sample. A misalignment between the current and the magnetic-field directions can even induce a "negative resistance". Finite-element simulations of the potential distribution inside the sample, using typical resistance anisotropies, are in good agreement with the experimental findings. Our study demonstrates that great care must be taken before interpreting measurements of a NMR as evidence for the chiral anomaly in putative Weyl semimetals., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

We report on measurements of the sound velocity and attenuation in a single crystal of the candidate quantum- spin-ice material Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ as a function of temperature and magnetic field. The acoustic modes couple to the spins magneto-elastically and, hence, carry information about the spin correlations that sheds light on the intricate magnetic phase diagram of Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ and the nature of spin dynamics in the material. Particularly, we find a pronounced thermal hysteresis in the acoustic data with a concomitant peak in the specific heat indicating a possible first-order phase transition at about $0.17$ K. At low temperatures, the acoustic response to magnetic field saturates hinting at the development of magnetic order. Furthermore, mean-field calculations suggest that Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ undergoes a first-order phase transition from a cooperative paramagnetic phase to a ferromagnet below $T\approx 0.17$ K., Comment: 8 pages