Features of the electronic transport of topological semimetal PtSn4 and WTe2 single crystals

Abstract

PtSn4 and WTe2 single crystals were grown, and the resistivity was studied in the temperature range from 4.2 to 80 K in various magnetic fields up to 10 T in detail. It is suggested that the observed quadratic temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity at low temperatures in zero field can be due to, in addition to electron-electron scattering, the “electron-phonon-surface” interference scattering mechanism. The transition from high effective magnetic fields to weak ones, which is observed in compensated conductors with a closed Fermi surface, was proposed as a possible explanation for the minimum on the temperature dependence of the resistivity of PtSn4 and WTe2 in a magnetic field. The values of the mean free path of current carriers were estimated in these materials.