Nontrivial topology of bulk HgSe from the study of cyclotron effective mass, electron mobility and phase shift of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations

TL;DR

This study investigates the topological properties of HgSe through magnetotransport measurements, revealing a Weyl semimetal phase at low electron density and a topological Lifshitz transition at higher doping levels.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of topological phase transitions in HgSe, including the first observation of a Berry phase change indicating a Lifshitz transition.

Findings

Confirmation of Weyl semimetal phase at low electron density

Observation of abrupt Berry phase change at high doping

Evidence of a topological Lifshitz transition in HgSe

Abstract

In this paper, the authors report the results of an experimental study of effective mass, electron mobility and phase shift of Shubnikov de Haas oscillations of transverse magnetoresistance in an extended electron concentration region from 8.8*10^15 cm^-3 to 4.3*10^18 cm^-3 in single crystals of mercury selenide. The revealed features confirm the existence of a Weyl semimetal phase in HgSe at low electron density, which has been indicated by previous magnetotransport studies. However, the most significant result is the discovery of an abrupt change of Berry phase of Pi at electron concentration 2*10^18 cm^-3, which we explain in terms of a manifestation of topological Lifshitz transition in HgSe that occurs by tuning Fermi energy via doping.