Comparative study of magnetic quantum oscillations in Hall and transverse magnetoresistance

Magnetic quantum oscillations (MQO) of Hall coefficient are measured in rare-earth tritelluride TmTe_3 and shown to be much stronger and persist to higher temperature than the Shubnikov oscillations. It is general for MQO in strongly anisotropic metals, and the combined measurements of Hall and diagonal magnetoresistance provide useful informations about the electronic structure. The ratio of their MQO amplitudes depends linearly on magnetic field, and its slope gives a simple and accurate measurement tool of the electron mean free time and its temperature dependence.