Field-induced metal-insulator Field-induced metal-insulator transition in the c-axis resistivity of graphite

TL;DR

This paper investigates the magnetic-field-induced metal-insulator transition in graphite's c-axis and in-plane resistivities, revealing universal scaling behavior and challenging semiclassical transport theories.

Contribution

It demonstrates the universality of the transition in both resistivities and links their temperature dependencies, questioning traditional transport models.

Findings

Resistivity shows a magnetic-field-driven transition at ~0.1 T.

Universal scaling behavior observed in both resistivities.

Semiclassical transport theory is inadequate for graphite.

Abstract

We show that the resistivity perpendicular $\rho_c$ and parallel $\rho_a$ to the basal planes of different graphite samples show similar magnetic-field-driven metal-insulator-transitions at a field $B_c \sim 0.1 T$ applied parallel to the c-axis. Our results demonstrate the universality of the recently found scaling in $\rho_a$ of graphite and indicate that the metallic-like temperature dependence of $\rho_c$ is directly correlated to that of $\rho_a$. The similar magnetoresistance found for both resistivities, the violation of Kohler's rule and the field-induced transition indicate that the semiclassical transport theory is inadecuate to understand the transport properties of graphite.