Anomalous Transport Properties of Re$_3$Ge$_7$

Single crystals of intermetallic Re$_3$Ge$_7$ were grown and characterized by measuring magnetization, electrical resistivity, Hall coefficient, and specific heat. Magnetization measurements show the material is weakly diamagnetic. A phase transition is indicated by a kink in magnetic susceptibility at $T_{c} = 58.5$K and is confirmed by a $λ$-like anomaly in specific heat. In zero-field, the temperature dependence of electrical resistivity $ρ(T)$ follows a typical metallic behavior above $T_c$ and sharply increases below $T_c$, showing a metal-to-insulator-like transition. When a magnetic field is applied, strong effects on the transport properties are observed. The temperature dependence of magnetoresistivity $Δρ$ = $ρ(T, H)$ - $ρ(T, H=0)$ develops a maximum around 30 K, deviating from ordinary metallic behavior. Analysis of the Hall coefficient measurements indicates that the carrier density is 0.04 per formula unit at 300 K and drops by two orders of magnitude below $T_c$. The effective mass of charge carriers is inferred from the analysis of the Shubnikov-de Haas quantum oscillations to be close to the bare electron mass.

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