Large nonsaturating magnetoresistance and signature of nondegenerate Dirac nodes in ZrSiS

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 114; no. 10; pp. 2468 - 2473
• Main Authors: Singha, Ratnadwip, Pariari, Arnab Kumar, Satpati, Biswarup, Mandal, Prabhat
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 07.03.2017
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Condensed matter physics; Dispersion; Electromagnetics; Magnetic fields; Physical Sciences; Physics; Quantum physics; Spectrum analysis; Temperature effects; Topology; quantum oscillation; Dirac semimetal; chiral anomaly; Fermi surface; extreme magnetoresistance
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1618004114

Whereas the discovery of Dirac- and Weyl-type excitations in electronic systems is a major breakthrough in recent condensed matter physics, finding appropriate materials for fundamental physics and technological applications is an experimental challenge. In all of the reported materials, linear dispersion survives only up to a few hundred millielectronvolts from the Dirac or Weyl nodes. On the other hand, real materials are subject to uncontrolled doping during preparation and thermal effect near room temperature can hinder the rich physics. In ZrSiS, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements have shown an unusually robust linear dispersion (up to ∼2 eV) with multiple nondegenerate Dirac nodes. In this context, we present the magnetotransport study on ZrSiS crystal, which represents a large family of materials (WHM with W = Zr, Hf; H = Si, Ge, Sn; M = O, S, Se, Te) with identical band topology. Along with extremely large and nonsaturating magnetoresistance (MR), ∼1.4 × 10⁵% at 2 K and 9 T, it shows strong anisotropy, depending on the direction of the magnetic field. Quantum oscillation and Hall effect measurements have revealed large hole and small electron Fermi pockets. A nontrivial π Berry phase confirms the Dirac fermionic nature for both types of charge carriers. The long-sought relativistic phenomenon of massless Dirac fermions, known as the Adler–Bell–Jackiw chiral anomaly, has also been observed.