Electronic structure and anisotropic transport properties in hexagonal YPtIn and LuAgGe ternary compounds

Abstract

We present anisotropic, zero applied magnetic field, temperature dependent resistivity measurements on hexagonal, non-magnetic, YPtIn and LuAgGe single crystals. For these materials the in-plane resistivity, $ρ_{ab}$, is significantly higher than the $c$ - axis one, $ρ_c$, with $ρ_{ab}/ρ_c \approx 1.4$ for YPtIn and $\approx 4.2 - 4.7$ for LuAgGe. The connection between the electronic structure and the anisotropic transport properties is discussed using density functional calculations that link the observed anisotropy with a specific shape of Fermi surface and anisotropy of the Fermi velocities.