Linear-in-temperature resistivity close to a topological metal insulator transition in ultra-multi valley fcc-ytterbium

Abstract The semimetal-to-semiconductor transition in fcc-Yb under modest pressure can be considered a picture book example of a metal–insulator transition of the Lifshitz type. We have performed transport measurements at low temperatures in the closest vicinity of the transition and related DFT calculations of the Fermi surface. Our resistivity measurements show a linear temperature dependence with an unusually low d ρ / dT at low temperatures approaching the MIT. The calculations suggest fcc-ytterbium being an ultra-multi valley system with 24 electron and 6 hole pockets in the Brillouin zone. Such Fermi surface topology naturally supports the appearance of strongly correlated phases. An estimation of the quasiparticle-enhanced effective mass shows that the scattering rate is by at least two orders of magnitude lower than in other materials which exhibit linear-in-T behavior at a quantum critical point. However, we cannot exclude an excessive effective mass enhancement, when the van Hove singularity touches the Fermi level.