Realization of Z$_2$ Topological Metal in Single-Crystalline Nickel Deficient NiV$_2$Se$_4$

Abstract

Temperature-dependent electronic and magnetic properties are reported for a Z2 topological metal single-crystalline nickel-deficient NiV$_2$Se$_4$. It is found to crystallize in the monoclinic Cr3S4 structure type with space group I2=m. From single-crystal x-ray diffraction, we find that there are vacancies on the Ni site, resulting in the composition Ni0:85V2Se4 in agreement with our electron-probe microanalysis. The electrical resistivity shows metallic behavior with a broad anomaly around 150{200 K that is also observed in the heat capacity data. This anomaly indicates a change of state of the material below 150 K. We believe that this anomaly could be due to spin fluctuations or charge-density-wave (CDW) fluctuations, where the lack of long-range order is caused by vacancies at the Ni site of Ni0:85V2Se4. Although we fail to observe any structural distortion in this crystal down to 1.5 K, its electronic and thermal properties are anomalous. The observation of non-linear temperature dependence of resistivity as well as an enhanced value of the Sommerfeld coefficient = 104.0(1) mJ/molK2 suggests strong electron-electron correlations in this material. The first-principles calculations performed for NiV$_2$Se$_4$, which are also applicable to Ni0:85V2Se4, classify this material as a topological metal with Z2 = (1; 110) and coexisting electron and hole pockets at the Fermi level. The phonon spectrum lacks any soft phonon mode, consistent with the absence of periodic lattice distortion in the present experiments.