Impurity-induced localization of quasiparticles in the presence of a pseudogap in cenisn

Abstract

The effect of doping in CeNiSn has been studied by the measurements of electrical resistivity, Hall coefficient and magnetic susceptibility for single crystals of (Formula presented) (Formula presented) Cu, and Pt) and (Formula presented) (Formula presented) and 0.05). All these impurities are found to increase the residual resistivity by several times up to 1 mΩ cm for x or (Formula presented) while for x or (Formula presented) the resistivities along the orthorhombic b and c axes saturate to values smaller than those for 0.01. Furthermore, the low-temperature increase in the Hall mobility of CeNiSn was found to be strongly suppressed in a similar way by all the impurities. These results indicate that residual carriers in CeNiSn with an anisotropic gap are immobilized by any impurity substituted either in the (Formula presented) site or the non-(Formula presented) site. © 1999 The American Physical Society.