Unusual magnetoresistance oscillations in preferentially oriented p -type polycrystalline ZrTe5

Abstract

Recently, Wang et al. (arXiv:1704.00995) reported quantum oscillation in magnetoresistance with the periodicity in the logarithm of a magnetic field (B) for $p$-type $\mathrm{ZrT}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}$. They have ascribed this type of behavior to the discrete scale invariance resulting from Efimov bound states. We have prepared high-quality stoichiometric ($p$-type) $\mathrm{ZrT}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}$ polycrystals and observed magnetoresistance oscillations, which are periodic in B. These oscillations are in contrast to usual SdH oscillations or log B dependent oscillations as observed for tellurium-deficient and stoichiometric $\mathrm{ZrT}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}$, respectively. We obtained small cyclotron effective mass (${m}^{*}\ensuremath{\sim}0.05{m}_{e}$), very high mobility of $\ensuremath{\sim}2.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{2}/\mathrm{Vs}$, and the signature of topological protected surface states in the compound. The magnetic data show zero cusp paramagnetic susceptibility, which supports the existence of topological surface states in $\mathrm{ZrT}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}$.