Pressure-tuned quantum criticality in the antiferromagnetic Kondo semi-metal CeNi$_{2-δ}$As$_2$

The easily tuned balance among competing interactions in Kondo-lattice metals allows access to a zero-temperature, continuous transition between magnetically ordered and disordered phases, a quantum-critical point (QCP). Indeed, these highly correlated electron materials are prototypes for discovering and exploring quantum-critical states. Theoretical models proposed to account for the strange thermodynamic and electrical transport properties that emerge around the QCP of a Kondo lattice assume the presence of an indefinitely large number of itinerant charge carriers. Here, we report a systematic transport and thermodynamic investigation of the Kondo-lattice system CeNi$_{2-δ}$As$_2$ ($δ$$\thickapprox$0.28) as its antiferromagnetic order is tuned by pressure and magnetic field to zero-temperature boundaries. These experiments show that the very small but finite carrier density of $\sim$0.032 $e^-$/f.u. in CeNi$_{2-δ}$As$_2$ leads to unexpected transport signatures of quantum criticality and the delayed development of a fully coherent Kondo lattice state with decreasing temperature. The small carrier density and associated semi-metallicity of this Kondo-lattice material favor an unconventional, local-moment type of quantum criticality and raise the specter of Nozières exhaustion idea that an insufficient number of conduction-electron spins to separately screen local moments requires collective Kondo screening.

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