Transport signatures of Fermi surface topology change in BiTeI

We report a quantum magnetotransport signature of a change in the Fermi surface topology in the Rashba semiconductor BiTeI with a systematic tuning of the Fermi level E[subscript F]. Beyond the quantum limit, we observe a marked increase (decrease) in electrical resistivity when E[subscript F] is ab...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ye, Linda, Kagawa, Fumitaka, Tokura, Yoshinori, Checkelsky, Joseph George
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/97018
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0325-5204
Description
Summary:We report a quantum magnetotransport signature of a change in the Fermi surface topology in the Rashba semiconductor BiTeI with a systematic tuning of the Fermi level E[subscript F]. Beyond the quantum limit, we observe a marked increase (decrease) in electrical resistivity when E[subscript F] is above (below) the Dirac node that we show originates from the Fermi surface topology. This effect represents a measurement of the electron distribution on low-index (n = 0, −1) Landau levels and is uniquely enabled by the finite bulk k[subscript z] dispersion along the c axis and strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling strength of the system. The Dirac node is independently identified by Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations as a vanishing Fermi surface cross section at k[subscript z] = 0. Additionally, we find that the violation of Kohler's rule allows a distinct insight into the temperature evolution of the observed quantum magnetoresistance effects.