Project description:One of the characteristics of topological materials is their nontrivial Berry phase. Experimental determination of this phase largely relies on a phase analysis of quantum oscillations. We study the angular dependence of the oscillations in a Dirac material [Formula: see text] and observe a striking spin-zero effect (i.e., vanishing oscillations accompanied with a phase inversion). This indicates that the Berry phase in [Formula: see text] remains nontrivial for arbitrary field direction, in contrast with previous reports. The Zeeman splitting is found to be proportional to the magnetic field based on the condition for the spin-zero effect in a Dirac band. Moreover, it is suggested that the Dirac band in [Formula: see text] is likely transformed into a line node other than Weyl points for the field directions at which the spin zero occurs. The results underline a largely overlooked spin factor when determining the Berry phase from quantum oscillations.
Project description:The quantum limit is quite easy to achieve once the band crossing exists exactly at the Fermi level (EF) in topological semimetals. In multilayered Dirac fermion systems, the density of Dirac fermions on the zeroth Landau levels (LLs) increases in proportion to the magnetic field, resulting in intriguing angle- and field-dependent interlayer tunneling conductivity near the quantum limit. BaGa2 is an example of a multilayered Dirac semimetal with its quasi-2D Dirac cone located at EF, providing a good platform to study its interlayer transport properties. In this paper, we report the negative interlayer magnetoresistance induced by the tunneling of Dirac fermions between the zeroth LLs of neighboring Ga layers in BaGa2. When the field deviates from the c-axis, the interlayer resistivity ?zz(?) increases and finally results in a peak with the applied field perpendicular to the c-axis. These unusual interlayer transport properties are observed together in the Dirac semimetal under ambient pressure and are well explained by the model of tunneling between Dirac fermions in the quantum limit.
Project description:A well known semiconductor Cd3As2 has reentered the spotlight due to its unique electronic structure and quantum transport phenomena as a topological Dirac semimetal. For elucidating and controlling its topological quantum state, high-quality Cd3As2 thin films have been highly desired. Here we report the development of an elaborate growth technique of high-crystallinity and high-mobility Cd3As2 films with controlled thicknesses and the observation of quantum Hall effect dependent on the film thickness. With decreasing the film thickness to 10?nm, the quantum Hall states exhibit variations such as a change in the spin degeneracy reflecting the Dirac dispersion with a large Fermi velocity. Details of the electronic structure including subband splitting and gap opening are identified from the quantum transport depending on the confinement thickness, suggesting the presence of a two-dimensional topological insulating phase. The demonstration of quantum Hall states in our high-quality Cd3As2 films paves a road to study quantum transport and device application in topological Dirac semimetal and its derivative phases.
Project description:Electrons in conventional metals become less mobile under the influence of electron correlation. Contrary to this empirical knowledge, we report here that electrons with the highest mobility ever found in known bulk oxide semiconductors emerge in the strong-correlation regime of the Dirac semimetal of perovskite CaIrO3. The transport measurements reveal that the high mobility exceeding 60,000?cm2V-1s-1 originates from the proximity of the Fermi energy to the Dirac node (?E?<?10?meV). The calculation based on the density functional theory and the dynamical mean field theory reveals that the energy difference becomes smaller as the system approaches the Mott transition, highlighting a crucial role of correlation effects cooperating with the spin-orbit coupling. The correlation-induced self-tuning of Dirac node enables the quantum limit at a modest magnetic field with a giant magnetoresistance, thus providing an ideal platform to study the novel phenomena of correlated Dirac electron.
Project description:The recent discovery of topological Dirac semimetals (DSMs) has provoked intense curiosity not only regarding Weyl physics in solids but also about topological phase transitions originating from DSMs. One specific area of interest is controlling the dimensionality to realize two-dimensional quantum phases such as quantum Hall and quantum spin Hall states. For investigating these phases, the Fermi level is a key controlling parameter. From this perspective, we report the carrier density control of quantum Hall states realized in thin films of DSM Cd3As2. Chemical doping of Zn combined with electrostatic gating has enabled us to tune the carrier density both over a wide range and continuously, even across the charge neutrality point. Comprehensive analyses of gate-tuned quantum transport have revealed Landau-level formation from linearly dispersed sub-bands and its contribution to the quantum Hall states. Our findings also pave the way for investigating the low-energy physics near the Dirac points of DSMs.
Project description:Band crossings observed in a wide range of condensed matter systems are recognized as a key to understand low-energy fermionic excitations that behave as massless Dirac particles. Despite rapid progress in this field, the exploration of non-equilibrium topological states remains scarce and it has potential ability of providing a new platform to create unexpected massless Dirac states. Here we show that in a semiconductor quantum-well driven by a cw-laser with linear polarization, the optical Stark effect conducts bulk-band crossing, and the resulting Floquet-Dirac semimetallic phase supports an unconventional edge state in the projected one-dimensional Brillouin zone under a boundary condition that an electron is confined in the direction perpendicular to that of the laser polarization. Further, we reveal that this edge state mediates a transition between topological and non-topological edge states that is caused by tuning the laser intensity. We also show that the properties of the edge states are strikingly changed under a different boundary condition. It is found that such difference originates from that nearly fourfold-degenerate points exist in a certain intermediate region of the bulk Brillouin zone between high-symmetry points.
Project description:With the emergence of Dirac fermion physics in the field of condensed matter, magnetic quantum oscillations (MQOs) have been used to discern the topology of orbits in Dirac materials. However, many previous researchers have relied on the single-orbit Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) formula, which overlooks the significant effect of degenerate orbits on MQOs. Since the single-orbit LK formula is valid for massless Dirac semimetals with small cyclotron masses, it is imperative to generalize the method applicable to a wide range of Dirac semimetals, whether massless or massive. This report demonstrates how spin-degenerate orbits affect the phases in MQOs of three-dimensional massive Dirac semimetal, NbSb2 With varying the direction of the magnetic field, an abrupt π phase shift is observed due to the interference between the spin-degenerate orbits. We investigate the effect of cyclotron mass on the π phase shift and verify its close relation to the phase from the Zeeman coupling. We find that the π phase shift occurs when the cyclotron mass is half of the electron mass, indicating the effective spin gyromagnetic ratio as g s = 2. Our approach is not only useful for analyzing MQOs of massless Dirac semimetals with a small cyclotron mass but also can be used for MQOs in massive Dirac materials with degenerate orbits, especially in topological materials with a sufficiently large cyclotron mass. Furthermore, this method provides a useful way to estimate the precise g s value of the material.
Project description:Spin-valley locking in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides has attracted enormous interest, since it offers potential for valleytronic and optoelectronic applications. Such an exotic electronic state has sparsely been seen in bulk materials. Here, we report spin-valley locking in a Dirac semimetal BaMnSb2. This is revealed by comprehensive studies using first principles calculations, tight-binding and effective model analyses, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. Moreover, this material also exhibits a stacked quantum Hall effect (QHE). The spin-valley degeneracy extracted from the QHE is close to 2. This result, together with the Landau level spin splitting, further confirms the spin-valley locking picture. In the extreme quantum limit, we also observed a plateau in the z-axis resistance, suggestive of a two-dimensional chiral surface state present in the quantum Hall state. These findings establish BaMnSb2 as a rare platform for exploring coupled spin and valley physics in bulk single crystals and accessing 3D interacting topological states.
Project description:Three-dimensional Dirac semimetals, three-dimensional analogues of graphene, are unusual quantum materials with massless Dirac fermions, which can be further converted to Weyl fermions by breaking time reversal or inversion symmetry. Topological surface states with Fermi arcs are predicted on the surface and have been observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments. Although the exotic transport properties of the bulk Dirac cones have been demonstrated, it is still a challenge to reveal the surface states via transport measurements due to the highly conductive bulk states. Here, we show Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in individual single-crystal Cd3As2 nanowires with low carrier concentration and large surface-to-volume ratio, providing transport evidence of the surface state in three-dimensional Dirac semimetals. Moreover, the quantum transport can be modulated by tuning the Fermi level using a gate voltage, enabling a deeper understanding of the rich physics residing in Dirac semimetals.
Project description:Unconventional surface states protected by non-trivial bulk orders are sources of various exotic quantum transport in topological materials. One prominent example is the unique magnetic orbit, so-called Weyl orbit, in topological semimetals where two spatially separated surface Fermi-arcs are interconnected across the bulk. The recent observation of quantum Hall states in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 bulks have drawn attention to the novel quantization phenomena possibly evolving from the Weyl orbit. Here we report surface quantum oscillation and its evolution into quantum Hall states in Cd3As2 thin film samples, where bulk dimensionality, Fermi energy, and band topology are systematically controlled. We reveal essential involvement of bulk states in the quantized surface transport and the resultant quantum Hall degeneracy depending on the bulk occupation. Our demonstration of surface transport controlled in film samples also paves a way for engineering Fermi-arc-mediated transport in topological semimetals.