Unambiguous determination of the g factor for holes in bismuth at high B / T (original) (raw)

Signatures of Surface States in Bismuth at High Magnetic Fields

Physical Review Letters, 2009

Electrons in a metal subject to magnetic field commonly exhibit oscillatory behavior as the field strength varies, with a period set by the area of quantized electronic orbits. Recent experiments on elemental bismuth have revealed oscillations for fields above 9 tesla that do not follow this simple dependence and have been interpreted as a signature of electron fractionalization in the bulk. We argue instead that a simple explanation in terms of the surface states of bismuth exists when additional features of the experiment are included. These surface electrons are known to have significant spin-orbit interaction. We show the observed oscillations are in quantitative agreement with the surface theory, which we propose to test by studying the effect of the Zeeman coupling in higher fields, dependence on the field orientation, and the thickness of the samples.

Electronic instability in bismuth far beyond the quantum limit

New Journal of Physics, 2009

We present a transport study of semi-metallic bismuth in presence of a magnetic field applied along the trigonal axis extended to 55 T for electric conductivity and to 45 T for thermoelectric response. The results uncover a new field scale at about 40 T in addition to the previously detected ones. Large anomalies in all transport properties point to an intriguing electronic instability deep in the ultraquantum regime. Unexpectedly, both the sheer magnitude of conductivity and its metallic temperature dependence are enhanced by this instability.

Magnetostriction of bismuth in quantizing magnetic fields

Physical Review B, 1982

ExperinMntal data on the longitudinal magnetostriction of two pure and one p-type bismuth single crystals are reported for fields up to 19 T at temperatures near 2 K. These data are consistent with a model based on the deformation potential concept used to compute the magnetostrictive strain components versus field, using the known field- dependent band structure of bismuth. It is shown that, when elastic and deformation potential constants are available, the magnetostriction of diamagnetic conducting solids can be used as a tool to determine the field-dependent band structure above the ultraquantum limit.

Hall plateaus at magic angles in bismuth beyond the quantum limit

Physical Review B, 2009

We present a study of the angular dependence of the resistivity tensor up to 35 T in elemental bismuth complemented by torque magnetometry measurements in a similar configuration. For at least two particular field orientations a few degrees off the trigonal axis, the Hall resistivity was found to become field-independent within experimental resolution in a finite field window corresponding to a field which is roughly three times the frequency of quantum oscillations. The Hall plateaus rapidly vanish as the field is tilted off theses magic angles. We identify two distinct particularities of these specific orientations, which may play a role in the emergence of the Hall plateaus.

Signatures of Electron Fractionalization in Ultraquantum Bismuth

Science, 2007

In elemental bismuth (contrary to most metals), due to the long Fermi wavelength of itinerant electrons, the quantum limit can be attained with a moderate magnetic field. Beyond this limit, electrons travel in quantized orbits whose circumference (shrinking with increasing magnetic field) becomes shorter than their Fermi wavelength. We present a study of transport coefficients of a single crystal of bismuth up to 33 T, i.e. deep in this ultraquantum limit. The Nernst coefficient presents three unexpected maxima which are concomitant with quasi-plateaus in the Hall coefficient. The results suggest that this bulk element may host an exotic quantum fluid reminiscent of the one associated with the fractional quantum Hall effect and raise the issue of electron fractionalization in a three dimensional metal.