Antimony inclusions leave a quantum-oscillation signature in FeSb₂
Transport and magnetic torque measurements helped separate signals from the host crystal and from antimony trapped inside it.
Fangdong Tang and colleagues studied FeSb₂ crystals grown from antimony flux. At low temperatures they observed a region of negative differential resistance, where increasing the current lowered the voltage across the sample.
Rotating the magnetic field revealed a characteristic angle dependence in the torque oscillations. The researchers traced this signature to oriented antimony inclusions inside the crystals. Liyuan Zhang co-authored the study.