Synthesis, physical properties, and band structure of the layered bismuthide PtBi2

We report details of single-crystal growth of stoichiometric bismuthide PtBi2 whose structure consists of alternate stacking of a Pt layer and Bi bilayer along the c axis. The compound crystallizes in space group P3 with a hexagonal unit cell of a = b = 6.553 angstrom, c = 6.165 angstrom. Its T-dependent resistivity is typical of a metal whereas a large anisotropy was observed for the in-plane and interplane electrical transport. The magnetization data show opposite sign for fields parallel and perpendicular to the Pt layers, respectively. Themagnetic field response of this material shows clearly two types of charge carriers, consistent with the multiple Fermi surfaces revealed in our band structure calculations. The hydrostatic pressure is shown to suppress the resistivity at high T systematically but has little bearing on its low-T transport. Through calorimetric measurements, the density of states at the Fermi level and the Debye temperature are determined to be 0.94 eV(-1) per molecule and 145 K, respectively. In addition, the electronic structures and parity analyses are also presented. We find a minimum value of 0.05 eV gap opening at around 2 eV under the Fermi level by invoking spin-orbit interaction. A slab calculation further indicates a surface Dirac cone appearing in the gap of bulk states. We discuss the possibility of PtBi2 being a candidate for a bulk topological metal, in analogy to the recently proposed topological superconductor beta-PdBi2.