Transport evidence for the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal phase in ZrTe5

TL;DR

This study provides direct quantum transport evidence that ZrTe5 is a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal, exhibiting chiral anomaly, quantum oscillations, nontrivial Berry phase, and potential Weyl point splitting under high magnetic fields.

Contribution

The paper presents the first direct transport evidence confirming ZrTe5 as a 3D Dirac semimetal with observable chiral anomaly and Landau level splitting, advancing understanding of topological semimetals.

Findings

Negative longitudinal magnetoresistance indicating chiral anomaly

Observation of nontrivial π-Berry phase in quantum oscillations

Landau level splitting suggesting Weyl point formation

Abstract

Topological Dirac semimetal is a newly discovered class of materials and has attracted intense attentions. This material can be viewed as a three-dimensional (3D) analogue of graphene and has linear energy dispersion in bulk, leading to a range of exotic transport properties. Here we report direct quantum transport evidence of 3D Dirac semimetal phase of layered material ZrTe5 by angular dependent magnetoresistance measurements under high magnetic fields up to 31 Tesla. We observed very clear negative longitudinal magnetoresistance induced by chiral anomaly under the condition of the magnetic field aligned only along the current direction. Pronounced Shubnikov-de Hass (SdH) quantum oscillations in both longitudinal magnetoresistance and transverse Hall resistance were observed, revealing anisotropic light cyclotron masses and high mobility of the system. In particular, a nontrivial {\pi}-Berry phase in the SdH gives clear evidence for 3D Dirac semimetal phase. Furthermore, we observed clear Landau Level splitting under high magnetic field, suggesting possible splitting of Dirac point into Weyl points due to broken time reversal symmetry. Our results indicate that ZrTe5 is an ideal platform to study 3D massless Dirac and Weyl fermions in a layered compound.