Structural Chemistry and Magnetic Property Study of Potential Dirac Semimetals
RE-Zn-Bi₂ (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd)

In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in materials incorporating Bi square nets due to their intriguing properties, including characteristics such as Dirac behavior and the emergence of semi-topological features. Among many ternary bismuthides, the RE-T-Bi₂ (RE=La-Lu, T=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn) family has caught our attention due to the comprehensive interplay between carrier electrons, bismuth square nets, and magnetic elements. Compared with the neighbor family, the AE-T-Bi₂ (AE=alkali earth metals, T=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn), the RE-T-Bi₂ family is less explored. Many structural chemistry questions remained. Vacancies exist at the transition metal site, which makes the RE-T-Bi₂ system always electron-rich. Through changing transition metal contents, the carrier concentration can be significantly tuned. How to let extra electrons interact with magnetic rare earth elements and Bi square nets would be the topic of this presentation. In this study, we focus on investigating the RE-Zn-Bi ternary system, with a particular emphasis on structural characterization. Overall, this research provides insights into the synthesis, and structural properties of RE-Zn-Bi ternary compounds, tuning the transition metal vacancy and how it will change the bonding and physical properties.