Giant Linear Magneto-resistance in Nonmagnetic PtBi2

TL;DR

This study reports the synthesis of nonmagnetic PtBi2 crystals exhibiting giant linear magneto-resistance up to 684% at low temperature, explained by a classical disorder model rather than quantum effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates a large linear magneto-resistance in PtBi2 explained by a classical disorder model, contrasting with quantum explanations.

Findings

Giant linear MR up to 684% at 2 K

MR decreases with temperature but remains significant at room temperature

MR slope correlates with Hall mobility and fits a classical disorder model

Abstract

We synthesized nonmagnetic PtBi$_2$ single crystals and observed a giant linear magneto-resistance (MR) up to 684\% under a magnetic field $\mu_0H$ = 15 T at $T$ = 2 K. The linear MR decreases with increasing temperature, but it is still as large as 61\% under $\mu_0H$ of 15 T at room temperature. Such a giant linear MR is unlikely to be described by the quantum model as the quantum condition is not satisfied. Instead, we found that the slope of MR scales with the Hall mobility, and it can be well explained by a classical disorder model.