Longitudinal Magnetoresistance Research Articles

Magnetoresistance in Quasi-One-Dimensional Weyl Semimetal (TaSe4)2I

Magnetic field effect on linear and nonlinear conductivity in a quasi-one-dimensional Weyl semimetal with a charge density wave (CDW) (TaSe$_4$)$_2$I is studied. Longitudinal magnetoresistance in all known regimes of CDW motion (linear conduction, creep, sliding, "Fr\"ohlich superconductivity") is small, positive and do not exceed a fraction of per cent. Similar magnetotransport measurements were performed in samples profiled by focused ion beams is such a way that motion of the CDW in them is accompanied by phase slip of the CDW. In such samples, a peak-like non-parabolic negative magnetoresistance is observed in relatively small magnetic fields $B \lesssim 4$ T in the nonlinear conduction regime in both longitudinal and transverse geometries. Our results differ significantly from ones obtained earlier and raise the question concerning conditions for observing the axion anomaly in Weyl semimetals in the Peierls state.

Large longitudinal magnetoresistance of multivalley systems

The longitudinal magnetoresistance (MR) is assumed to be hardly realized as the Lorentz force does not work on electrons when the magnetic field is parallel to the current. However, in some cases, longitudinal MR becomes large, which exceeds the transverse MR. To solve this problem, we have investigated the longitudinal MR considering multivalley contributions based on the classical MR theory. We have showed that the large longitudinal MR is caused by off-diagonal components of a mobility tensor. Our theoretical results agree with the experiments of large longitudinal MR in IV–VI semiconductors, especially in PbTe, for a wide range of temperatures, except for linear MR at low temperatures.

Quantum oscillations in nanowires of topological insulator Bi0.83Sb0.17

Three dimensional topological insulators (TIs) are novel materials with a conducting surface covering an insulating bulk interior. We examine the topological properties of nanowires of TI Bi0.83Sb0.17 and observed that they display oscillations of the magnetoresistance (MR) that can be interpreted as topological surface electronic transport. In this work, we study the nanowires at various magnetic field orientations, at low temperatures (1.5 K ≤ T < 5 K), and for field strengths up to 14 T. In the 4 T < B < 10 T range we observe B-periodic, Aharonov–Bohm (AB) oscillations of longitudinal MR with two periods, namely, one flux quantum Φ0 and half of flux quantum Φ0/2 (ΔB1 = Φ0/S, ΔB2 = Φ0/2S, where S is the cross-sectional area of the nanowire). The periods depend on the angle α between the magnetic field and the wire axis according to a cosine law that indicates that the phenomenon is governed by the axial flux enclosed by the nanowire. In additional to the high magnetic field oscillations, in the low magnetic field range, B < 4 T, we observe a conductance maximum for zero magnetic field and the first magnetoresistance maximum for Φ = Φ0/2.

Magnetotransport signatures of Weyl physics and discrete scale invariance in the elemental semiconductor tellurium

The study of topological materials possessing nontrivial band structures enables exploitation of relativistic physics and development of a spectrum of intriguing physical phenomena. However, previous studies of Weyl physics have been limited exclusively to semimetals. Here, via systematic magnetotransport measurements, two representative topological transport signatures of Weyl physics, the negative longitudinal magnetoresistance and the planar Hall effect, are observed in the elemental semiconductor tellurium. More strikingly, logarithmically periodic oscillations in both the magnetoresistance and Hall data are revealed beyond the quantum limit and found to share similar characteristics with those observed in ZrTe5 and HfTe5 The log-periodic oscillations originate from the formation of two-body quasi-bound states formed between Weyl fermions and opposite charge centers, the energies of which constitute a geometric series that matches the general feature of discrete scale invariance (DSI). Our discovery reveals the topological nature of tellurium and further confirms the universality of DSI in topological materials. Moreover, introduction of Weyl physics into semiconductors to develop "Weyl semiconductors" provides an ideal platform for manipulating fundamental Weyl fermionic behaviors and for designing future topological devices.

Quantum magnetotransport in massive Dirac materials

Massive Dirac fermions break the chiral symmetry explicitly and also make the Berry curvature of the band structure non-Abelian. By utilizing the Green's function technique, we develop a microscopic theory to establish a set of quantum diffusive equations for massive Dirac materials in the presence of electric and magnetic fields. It is found that the longitudinal magnetoresistance is always negative and quadratic in the magnetic field, and decays quickly with the mass. The theory is applicable to the systems with non-Abelian Berry curvature and resolves the puzzles of anomalous magnetotransport properties measured in topological materials.

Orbital effect and weak localization in the longitudinal magnetoresistance of Weyl semimetals NbP, NbAs, TaP, and TaAs

Weyl semimetals such as the TaAs family (TaAs, TaP, NbAs, NbP) host quasiparticle excitations resembling the long sought after Weyl fermions at special band-crossing points in the band structure denoted as Weyl nodes. They are predicted to exhibit a negative longitudinal magnetoresistance (LMR) due to the chiral anomaly if the Fermi energy is sufficiently close to the Weyl points. However, current jetting effects, i.e. current inhomogeneities caused by a strong, field-induced conductivity anisotropy in semimetals, have a similar experimental signature and therefore have hindered a determination of the intrinsic LMR in the TaAs family so far. This work investigates the longitudinal magnetoresistance of all four members of this family along the crystallographic $a$ and $c$ direction. Our samples are of similar quality as those previously studied in the literature and have a similar chemical potential as indicated by matching quantum oscillation (QO) frequencies. Care was taken to ensure homogeneous currents in all measurements. As opposed to previous studies where this was not done, we find a positive LMR that saturates in fields above 4 T in TaP, NbP and NbAs for $B||c$. Using Fermi-surface geometries from band structure calculations that had been confirmed by experiment, we show that this is the behaviour expected from a classical purely orbital effect, independent on the distance of the Weyl node to the Fermi energy. The TaAs family of compounds is the first to show such a simple LMR without apparent influences of scattering anisotropy. In configurations where the orbital effect is small, i.e. for $B||a$ in NbAs and NbP, we find a non-monotonous LMR including regions of negative LMR. We discuss a weak antilocalisation scenario as an alternative interpretation than the chiral anomaly for these results, since it can fully account for the overall field dependence.

Spin–lattice relaxation phenomena in the magnetic state of a suggested Weyl semimetal CeAlGe

ABSTRACTIn this work, we report the results of DC susceptibility, AC susceptibility and related technique, resistivity, transverse and longitudinal magnetoresistance and heat capacity on polycrystalline magnetic semimetal CeAlGe. This compound undergoes antiferromagnetic type ordering around 5.2 K (T1). Under the application of external magnetic fields, parallel alignment of magnetic moments is favoured above 0.5 T. At low field and temperature, frequency and AC field amplitude response of AC susceptibility indicate the presence of spin–lattice relaxation phenomena. The observation of spin–lattice interaction suggests the presence of the Rashba–Dresselhaus spin–orbit interaction which is associated with inversion and time-reversal symmetry breaking. Additionally, the presence of negative and asymmetric longitudinal magnetoresistance indicates anomalous velocity contribution to the magnetoresistance due to the Rashba–Dresselhaus spin–orbit interaction which is further studied by heat capacity.

Magneto-conductivity of Weyl semimetals: the roles of inter-valley scattering and high-order Feynman diagrams

Within the theoretical framework of Kubo formula and self-consistent Born approximation, we theoretically study the transversal and longitudinal magneto-conductivity of a type-I Weyl semimetal. We focus mainly on the peculiar role of inter-valley scattering on linear transversal magnetoresistance (LTMR) and negative longitudinal magnetoresistance (NLMR). At first, we find that the contributions of high-order Feynman diagrams to the transversal magneto-conductivity play the distinct roles between the cases of intra- and inter-valley scatterings. The former suppresses the transversal conductivity whereas the latter enhances it. Then, with the increase of scattering strength, the LTMR is destroyed, accompanying a sizable increase of transversal conductivity, in particular, in the case of the tilted cone. For longitudinal magneto-transport, inter-valley scattering contributes only trivial magnetoresistance. In contrast, intra-valley scattering is invalid for longitudinal magneto-transport which means a very large NLMR. In addition, the high-order Feynman diagrams always play the nontrivial role on the longitudinal conductivity even in the weak scattering limit. Finally, when altering the Fermi energy among low-lying Landau level, the peaks of transversal conductivity just correspond to the valleys of the longitudinal conductivity.

Magnetic electron collimation in three-dimensional semi-metals

While electrons moving perpendicular to a magnetic field are confined to cyclotron orbits, they can move freely parallel to the field. This simple fact leads to complex current flow in clean, low carrier density semi-metals, such as long-ranged current jets forming along the magnetic field when currents pass through point-like constrictions. Occurring accidentally at imperfect current injection contacts, the phenomenon of "current jetting" plagues the research of longitudinal magneto-resistance, which is particularly important in topological conductors. Here we demonstrate the controlled generation of tightly focused electron beams in a new class of micro-devices machined from crystals of the Dirac semi-metal Cd3As2. The current beams can be guided by tilting a magnetic field and their range tuned by the field strength. Finite element simulations quantitatively capture the voltage induced at faraway contacts when the beams are steered towards them, supporting the picture of controlled electron jets. These experiments demonstrate direct control over the highly non-local signal propagation unique to 3D semi-metals in the current jetting regime, and may lead to applications akin to electron optics in free space.

Evidence from transport measurements for YRh6Ge4 being a triply degenerate nodal semimetal

We have investigated magnetotransport properties of YRh6Ge4, which was recently predicted to be a triply degenerate nodal semimetal. We find it exhibits remarkable signatures of a chiral anomaly, manifested by large negative longitudinal magnetoresistance, quadratic field dependence of magnetoconductance and planar Hall effect. Furthermore, we have also observed Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) quantum oscillations in the magnetoresistivity measurements on this material. The analyses of the SdH data reveal two point-like Fermi surfaces and these pockets are found to host nearly massless fermions. The small size of these Fermi pockets is in a good agreement with the theoretical prediction that the triply degenerate point in YRh6Ge4 is much closer to the Fermi level than previously demonstrated triply degenerate nodal semimetals such as MoP and WC. These results suggest YRh6Ge4 may serve as a model system to probe exotic properties of three-component fermions and understand their underlying physics.

Magnetic electron collimation in three-dimensional semi-metals

While electrons moving perpendicular to a magnetic field are confined to cyclotron orbits, they can move freely parallel to the field. This simple fact leads to complex flow in clean, low carrier density semi-metals, such as long-ranged jets forming along the magnetic field when currents pass through point-like constrictions. Occurring accidentally at imperfect injection contacts, the phenomenon of current plagues the research of longitudinal magneto-resistance which is particularly important in topological conductors. Here we demonstrate the controlled generation of tightly focused electron beams in a new class of micro-devices machined from crystals of the Dirac semi-metal Cd3As2. The beams can be guided by tilting a magnetic field and their range tuned by the field strength. Finite element simulations quantitatively capture the voltage induced at faraway contacts when the beams are steered towards them, supporting the picture of controlled electron jets. These experiments demonstrate the first direct control over the highly nonlocal signal propagation unique to 3D semi-metals in the jetting regime, and may lead to novel applications akin to electron optics in free space.

XXIV Международный симпозиум Нанофизика и наноэлектроника", Нижний Новгород, 10-13 марта 2020 г. Влияние граничных условий на высокочастотную электропроводность тонкого проводящего слоя в продольном магнитном поле

The problem of the high-frequency conductivity of a thin conductive layer in a longitudinal magnetic field is solved in terms of kinetic approach taking into account diffuse-mirror boundary conditions. Specularity coefficients of layer surfaces are assumed to be different. An analytical expression is derived for dimensionless integral conductivity as a function of dimensionless parameters: layer thickness, electric field frequency, magnetic induction, chemical potential and surface specularity coefficients. The limiting cases of a degenerate and non-degenerate electron gas are considered. A comparative analysis of theoretical calculations with experimental data is carried out. The method to determine specularity coefficients and mean free path of charge carriers from the longitudinal magnetoresistance of a thin metal film is illustrated.

Relativistic mechanism of chiral magnetic current in Weyl semimetals with tilted dispersion

The chiral magnetic effect is a one of the exotic bulk transport properties of the Weyl semimetals. Because of the Nielsen–Ninomiya ‘no-go theorem’, the total chiral magnetic current is absent in the equilibrium state. One of the mechanisms for generating this current is the chiral anomaly. This phenomenon is the anomalous nonconservation of chiral charge for massless relativistic particles. It can be realized by parallel magnetic and electric fields (∼), and it leads to such new transport phenomenon as the negative longitudinal magnetoresistance. Using a simple theory (we consider both a linearized and lattice model), we have shown, that in Weyl metals with tilted dispersion another mechanism of the chiral magnetic current is possible. It is not associated with the chiral anomaly. The new transport mechanism is based on the relativistic effect of electric field on Landau levels. This effect is that an electric field changes the distance between the Landau levels, and also changes the effective velocity along magnetic field. At the presence of a tilt in the spectrum, this velocity renormalization is different for different Weyl points. This leads to a non-zero resulting drift velocity. As a consequence, an electrical current arises along the magnetic field. The induced by this mechanism the electric current is proportional to the pseudoscalar product of the fields () and directed along the magnetic field, that differs it from the Hall current (∼). At the same time, the conductivity corresponding to this transport mechanism does not depend on the scattering time like the Hall conductivity. Thus, we have proposed a new anomalous transport mechanism in the Weyl semimetal, which is not associated with the chiral anomaly.

Use of quantum effects as potential qualifying metrics for "quantum grade silicon".

Across solid state quantum information, materials deficiencies limit performance through enhanced relaxation, charge defect motion or isotopic spin noise. While classical measurements of device performance provide cursory guidance, specific qualifying metrics and measurements applicable to quantum devices are needed. For quantum applications, new materials metrics, e.g., enrichment, are needed, while existing, classical metrics like mobility might be relaxed compared to conventional electronics. In this work, we examine locally grown silicon superior in enrichment, but inferior in chemical purity compared to commercial-silicon, as part of an effort to underpin the materials standards needed for quantum grade silicon and establish a standard approach for intercomparison of these materials. We use a custom, mass-selected ion beam deposition technique, which has produced isotopic enrichment levels up to 99.99998 % 28Si, to isotopically enrich 28Si, but with chemical purity > 99.97% due the MBE techniques used. From this epitaxial silicon, we fabricate top-gated Hall bar devices simultaneously on the 28Si and on the adjacent natural abundance Si substrate for intercomparison. Using standard-methods, we measure maximum mobilities of at an electron density of cm-2 and at an electron density of cm-2 at K for devices fabricated on 28Si and natSi, respectively. For magnetic fields T, both devices demonstrate well developed Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations in the longitudinal magnetoresistance. This provides transport characteristics of isotopically enriched 28Si, and will serve as a benchmark for classical transport of 28Si at its current state, and low temperature, epitaxially grown Si for quantum devices more generally.

Anomalous conductance scaling in strained Weyl semimetals

Magnetotransport provides key experimental signatures in Weyl semimetals. The longitudinal magnetoresistance is linked to the chiral anomaly and the transversal magnetoresistance to the dominant charge relaxation mechanism. Axial magnetic fields that act with opposite sign on opposite chiralities facilitate new transport experiments that probe the low-energy Weyl nodes. As recently realized, these axial fields can be achieved by straining samples or adding inhomogeneities to them. Here, we identify a robust signature of axial magnetic fields: an anomalous scaling of the conductance in the diffusive ultraquantum regime. In particular, we demonstrate that the longitudinal conductivity in the ultraquantum regime of a disordered Weyl semimetal subjected to an axial magnetic field increases with both the field strength and sample width due to a spatial separation of charge carriers. We contrast axial magnetic with real magnetic fields to clearly distinguish the different behavior of the conductance. Our results rely on numerical tight-binding simulations and are supported by analytical arguments. We argue that the spatial separation of charge carriers can be used for directed currents in microstructured electronic devices.

Origin of exceptional magneto-resistance in Weyl semimetal TaSb2

We study magneto-transport properties in single crystals of TaSb2, which is a topological semimetal. In the presence of magnetic field, the electrical resistivity shows onset of insulating behaviour followed by a plateau at low temperature. Such resistivity saturation is generally assigned to topological surface states but we find that aspects of extremely large magneto resistance and resistivity plateau are well accounted by classical Kohler’s scaling. In addition, magneto-resistance in TaSb2 shows non-saturating field dependence. Evidence for anomalous Chiral transport is provided with observation of negative longitudinal magneto-resistance. Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation data reveal two dominating frequencies, 201 T and 455 T. At low temperature, the field dependence of Hall resistivity shows non-linear behaviour that indicates the presence of two types of charge carriers in consonance with reported electronic band structure. Analysis of Hall resistivity implies extremely high electron mobility.

Planar Hall effect induced by anisotropic orbital magnetoresistance in type-II Dirac semimetal PdTe2

We measure planar Hall effect (PHE) and longitudinal anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) with a magnetic field rotating in the a-b plane in the type-II Dirac semimetal PdTe2. The measured PHE and AMR curves can be fitted by the theoretical equations; however, a detailed analysis of the extracted data demonstrates that the parameter related to PHE and AMR has no relationship with the chiral anomaly due to the absence of negative longitudinal magnetoresistance (MR) when the electric and magnetic fields are parallel to each other. Meanwhile, we prove that the origin of PHE in PdTe2 is the anisotropic orbital MR. Our work suggests that negative longitudinal MR is necessary to identify chiral anomaly, and we cannot in general use PHE as a signal for the presence of the chiral anomaly in Dirac/Weyl semimetals.

Superconductivity and weak anti-localization in GaSb whiskers under strain

Strain influence on the behavior of temperature dependences of resistance was studied in the n-type conductivity GaSb whiskers with tellurium concentration 1.7 1018 сm–3. Analyzing these dependences in the temperature range 4.2–30 K strain inducted metal–insulator transition and partial superconductivity were found in the whiskers. The transverse and longitudinal magnetoresistances for unstrained and strained GaSb whiskers were also studied in ranges of magnetic field 0–3 T and temperature 1.5–60 K. The effects, such as a superconductivity and weak anti-localization were observed for unstrained and strained samples. The upper critical zero magnetic fields for superconductivity suppression were obtained in the whiskers. Strain was shown to decrease the superconductivity in GaSb samples. The strain induced splitting of degenerate level on two components with opposite and parallel spins was found in the n-type conductivity GaSb whiskers due to weak localization and anti-localization effects, respectively.

Validity of Kohler's rule for the magneto-resistance in pristine and irradiated NbAs2

The synthesis, characterization and magneto-transport investigations on the single crystals of semimetal NbAs2 in a temperature range varying from 300 K to 2.5 K with a magnetic field up to 14 T are reported. The temperature dependence of resistivity that exhibits a metallic behavior without a magnetic field is seen to show an upturn as the magnetic field is applied resulting in a very large magneto-resistance. The upturn temperature displays a systematic increase with increasing fields. It is shown that this behavior of magneto-resistance can be understood in terms of the Kohler's scaling relation rather than in terms of the existence of a critical magnetic field inducing a metal to insulator transition. Through careful experiments, including angular dependence of magneto-resistance, it is verified that NbAs2 does not show negative longitudinal magneto-resistance, a characteristic of Weyl semimetal.

Possible manifestations of the chiral anomaly and evidence for a magnetic field induced topological phase transition in the type-I Weyl semimetal TaAs

We evaluate the topological character of TaAs through a detailed study of the angular, magnetic-field and temperature dependence of its magnetoresistivity and Hall-effect(s), and of its bulk electronic structure through quantum oscillatory phenomena. At low temperatures, and for fields perpendicular to the electrical current, we extract an extremely large Hall angle $\Theta_H$ at higher fields, that is $\Theta_H \sim 82.5^{\circ}$, implying a very pronounced Hall signal superimposed into its magnetoresistivity. For magnetic fields and electrical currents perpendicular to the \emph{c}-axis we observe a very pronounced planar Hall-effect, when the magnetic field is rotated within the basal plane. This effect is observed even at higher temperatures, i.e. as high as $T = 100$ K, and predicted recently to result from the chiral anomaly among Weyl points. Superimposed onto this planar Hall, which is an even function of the field, we observe an anomalous planar Hall-signal akin to the one reported for that is an odd function of the field. Below 100 K, negative longitudinal magnetoresistivity (LMR), initially ascribed to the chiral anomaly and subsequently to current inhomogeneities, is observed in samples having different geometries and contact configurations, once the large Hall signal is subtracted. Our measurements reveal a phase transition upon approaching the quantum limit that leads to the reconstruction of the FS and to the concomitant suppression of the negative LMR indicating that it is intrinsically associated with the Weyl dispersion at the Fermi level. For fields along the \emph{a}-axis it also leads to a pronounced hysteresis pointing to a field-induced electronic phase-transition. This collection of unconventional tranport observations points to the prominent role played by the axial anomaly among Weyl nodes.