Zeeman splitting and dynamical mass generation in Dirac semimetal ZrTe5

Yanwen Liu, Xiang Yuan, Cheng Zhang, Zhao Jin, Awadhesh Narayan, Chen Luo, Zhigang Chen, Lei Yang, Jin Zou, Xing Wu, Stefano Sanvito, Zhengcai Xia, Liang Li, Zhong Wang and Faxian Xiu ()
Additional contact information
Yanwen Liu: State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University
Xiang Yuan: State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University
Cheng Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University
Zhao Jin: Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Awadhesh Narayan: School of Physics, AMBER and CRANN Institute, Trinity College
Chen Luo: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multidimensional Information Processing, East China Normal University
Zhigang Chen: Materials Engineering, The University of Queensland
Lei Yang: Materials Engineering, The University of Queensland
Jin Zou: Materials Engineering, The University of Queensland
Xing Wu: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Multidimensional Information Processing, East China Normal University
Stefano Sanvito: School of Physics, AMBER and CRANN Institute, Trinity College
Zhengcai Xia: Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Liang Li: Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Zhong Wang: Institute for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University
Faxian Xiu: State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Fudan University

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Dirac semimetals have attracted extensive attentions in recent years. It has been theoretically suggested that many-body interactions may drive exotic phase transitions, spontaneously generating a Dirac mass for the nominally massless Dirac electrons. So far, signature of interaction-driven transition has been lacking. In this work, we report high-magnetic-field transport measurements of the Dirac semimetal candidate ZrTe5. Owing to the large g factor in ZrTe5, the Zeeman splitting can be observed at magnetic field as low as 3 T. Most prominently, high pulsed magnetic field up to 60 T drives the system into the ultra-quantum limit, where we observe abrupt changes in the magnetoresistance, indicating field-induced phase transitions. This is interpreted as an interaction-induced spontaneous mass generation of the Dirac fermions, which bears resemblance to the dynamical mass generation of nucleons in high-energy physics. Our work establishes Dirac semimetals as ideal platforms for investigating emerging correlation effects in topological matters.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12516

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