Fermi surface topology and non-trivial Berry phase in the flat-band semimetal Pd$_3$Pb

TL;DR

This study investigates the Fermi surface and Berry phase in the topological semimetal Pd$_3$Pb using high-field SdH oscillations, confirming theoretical predictions of complex band crossings and non-trivial topological features.

Contribution

It provides experimental verification of the complex Fermi surface and non-trivial Berry phase in Pd$_3$Pb, supporting its classification as a topological semimetal.

Findings

Verification of the multi-sheet Fermi surface structure.

Detection of a non-trivial Berry phase in two bands.

Observation of interference effects mimicking trivial Berry phase.

Abstract

A study of the Fermi surface of the putative topological semimetal Pd$_3$Pb has been carried out using Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations measured in fields of up to 60 T. Pd$_3$Pb has garnered attention in the community due to a peculiar Fermi surface that has been proposed theoretically by Ahn, Pickett, and Lee, [Phys. Rev. B 98, 035130 (2018)] to host a dispersion-less band along $X-\Gamma$ as well as multiple triply-degenerate band crossings that, under the influence of spin-orbit coupling, lead to ten four-fold degenerate Dirac points. Analysis of the SdH oscillation data verifies the calculated multi-sheet Fermi surface, revealing a $\Gamma$ centered spheroid that had not been resolved experimentally in prior studies. A comprehensive, angle-dependent analysis of the phase of the SdH oscillations convincingly demonstrates a non-trivial Berry phase for two bands along $\Gamma-R$, supporting the theoretical predictions, while simultaneously evidencing interference between extremal orbits that mimics a trivial Berry phase at intermediate angles.