Magnetoresistance and Hall effect of the complex metal alloy Mg2Al3

• Unusual electronic transport properties have been found in the rhombohedral beta'-phase of the complex metallic alloy Mg2Al3. The magnetoresistance (MR) is 2 orders of magnitude larger than in the related cubic beta-Mg2Al3-phase and Kohler's rule is strongly violated in the beta'-phase at higher temperatures. Above about 100 K the Hall coefficient R-H of the beta- and beta'-phases are similar and free-electron-like, while in the beta'-phase, R-H changes sign with decreasing temperature at low fields. We have inquired into the sources of these transport anomalies, but have not been able to clearly identify the grounds. Several conventional mechanisms for a large magnetoresistance are discussed, and found not to be applicable. The different properties in the beta- and the beta'-phases are puzzling since the magnitudes of the electrical resistivities are similar and omega(c)tau (cyclotron frequencyxscattering time) is equally small in both phases. The similar temperature range in which anomalies occur in the beta'-phase in the resistivity, the Hall effect, and the magnetoresistance indicates an electronic transition or a change of the electron structure in this phase below about 100 K.

Nyckelord

linear magnetoresistance

galvanomagnetic properties

intersheet

scattering

transport-properties

crystals

cadmium

phase

zinc

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