Linear magnetoresistance and structural distortion in layered SrCu_4-x P₂ single crystals

Abstract Here we report a systematic study on layered metal SrCu 4- x P 2 single crystals combined with transport, magnetization, thermodynamic measurements and structural characterization. We found the crystals show large linear magnetoresistance without any sign of saturation with magnetic field up to the 30 T. We also observed a phase transition with significant anomaly in resistivity and heat capacity at T p ~ 140 K. Thermal expansion measurement reveals a subtle lattice parameters variation near T p , i.e. ΔL c / L c ~ 0.062%. The structural characterization proves that there is no structure transition below and above T p . All these results suggest that the nonmagnetic transition SrCu 4- x P 2 should be associated with structural distortion.