Unidirectional Kondo scattering in layered NbS2

Unidirectional Kondo scattering in layered NbS₂

Crystalline defects can modify quantum interactions in solids, causing unintuitive, even favourable, properties such as quantum Hall effect or superconducting vortex pinning. Here we present another example of this notion—an unexpected unidirectional Kondo scattering in single crystals of 2H-NbS₂. This manifests as a pronounced low-temperature enhancement in the out-of-plane resistivity and thermopower below 40 K, hidden for the in-plane charge transport. The anomaly can be suppressed by the c-axis-oriented magnetic field, but is unaffected by field applied along the planes. The magnetic moments originate from layers of 1T-NbS₂, which inevitably form during the growth, undergoing a charge-density-wave reconstruction with each superlattice cell (David-star-shaped cluster of Nb atoms) hosting a localised spin. Our results demonstrate the unique and highly anisotropic response of a spontaneously formed Kondo-lattice heterostructure, intercalated in a layered conductor.

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QMAT Publications

Edoardo Martino, Carsten Putzke, Markus König, Philip J. W. Moll, Helmuth Berger, David LeBoeuf, Maxime Leroux, Cyril Proust, Ana Akrap, Holm Kirmse, Christoph Koch, ShengNan Zhang, QuanSheng Wu, Oleg V. Yazyev, László Forró and Konstantin Semeniuk1

npj 2DMaterials and Applications5 86 (2021)

18 November 2021

DOI: 10.1038/s41699-021-00265-6