Extended phase diagram of RNiC2 family: Linear scaling of the Peierls temperature

TL;DR

This study maps the phase diagram of RNiC2 compounds, revealing a linear relationship between the charge density wave transition temperature and unit cell volume, and extends understanding of their magnetic and electronic properties.

Contribution

It presents an extended phase diagram of RNiC2 compounds, highlighting the linear scaling of Peierls temperature with unit cell volume and the behavior of lock-in transitions.

Findings

Charge density wave transition temperatures range from 284 to 394 K.

Peierls temperature scales linearly with unit cell volume.

Lock-in transition disappears beyond a certain volume threshold.

Abstract

Physical properties for the late-lanthanide-based RNiC2 (R = Dy, Ho, Er, and Tm) ternary compounds are reported. All the compounds show antiferromagnetic ground state with the N\'eel temperature ranging from 3.4 K for HoNiC2 to 8.5 K for ErNiC2. The results of the transport and galvanomagnetic properties confirm a charge density wave state at and above room temperature with transition temperatures TCDW = 284, 335, 366, and 394 K for DyNiC2, HoNiC2, ErNiC2, and TmNiC2, respectively. The Peierls temperature TCDW scales linearly with the unit cell volume. A similar linear dependence has been observed for the temperature of the lock-in transition T1 as well. Beyond the intersection point of the trend lines, the lock-in transition is no longer observed. In this Rapid Communication we demonstrate an extended phase diagram for the RNiC2 family.