No Arabic abstract
Raman scattering in the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 shows an intricate interplay of electronic and phonon degrees of freedom. We observe resonant phonon scattering due to interband transitions, an anomalous anharmonicity of phonon frequency and intensity, as well as quasielastic (E~0) electronic scattering. The latter two effects are governed by a characteristic temperature scale T* ~ 100 K that is related to mutual fluctuations of lattice and electronic degrees of freedom. A refined analysis shows that this characteristic temperature corresponds to the energy of optical phonons which couple to interband transitions in the Dirac states of Cd3As2. As electron-phonon coupling in a topological semimetal is primarily related to phonons with finite momenta, the back action on the optical phonons in only observed as anharmonicities via multi-phonon processes involving a broad range of momenta. The resulting energy density fluctuations of the coupled system have previously only been observed in low dimensional or frustrated spin systems with suppressed long range ordering.
We report an investigation of temperature- and doping-dependent thermoelectric behaviors of topological semimetal Cd3As2. The electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and figure of merit (ZT) are calculated by using Boltzmann transport theory. The calculated thermoelectric properties of the pristine Cd3As2 match well the experimental results. The electron or hole doping, especially the latter, is found improving much the thermoelectric behaviors of the material. The optimum merit ZT of Cd3As2 with electron doping is found to be about 0.5 at T=700 K with n=1x1020 cm-3, much larger than the maximum experimental value obtained for the pristine Cd3As2 (~0.15). For the p-type Cd3As2, the maximal value of the Seebeck coefficient as a function of temperature increases apparently with the increase of the hole doping concentration and its position shifts drastically towards the lower temperature region compared to that of the n-type Cd3As2, leading to the optimum merit ZT of about 0.5 obtained at low temperature of 500K (p=1x1020 cm-3) in the p-type Cd3As2.
Three dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetals are 3D analogue of graphene, which display Dirac points with linear dispersion in k-space, stabilized by crystal symmetry. Cd3As2 and Na3Bi were predicted to be 3D Dirac semimetals and were subsequently demonstrated by photoemission experiments. As unveiled by transport measurements, several exotic phases, such as Weyl semimetals, topological insulators, and topological superconductors, can be deduced by breaking time reversal or inversion symmetry. Here, we reported a facile and scalable chemical vapor deposition method to fabricate high-quality Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 microbelts, they have shown ultrahigh mobility up to 1.15*10^5 cm^2/V s and pronounced Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. Such extraordinary features are attributed to the suppression of electron backscattering. This research opens a new avenue for the scalable fabrication of Cd3As2 materials towards exciting electronic applications of 3D Dirac semimetals.
Owing to the coupling between open Fermi arcs on opposite surfaces, topological Dirac semimetals exhibit a new type of cyclotron orbit in the surface states known as Weyl orbit. Here, by lowering the carrier density in Cd3As2 nanoplates, we observe a crossover from multiple- to single-frequency Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations when subjected to out-of-plane magnetic field, indicating the dominant role of surface transport. With the increase of magnetic field, the SdH oscillations further develop into quantum Hall state with non-vanishing longitudinal resistance. By tracking the oscillation frequency and Hall plateau, we observe a Zeeman-related splitting and extract the Landau level index as well as sub-band number. Different from conventional two-dimensional systems, this unique quantum Hall effect may be related to the quantized version of Weyl orbits. Our results call for further investigations into the exotic quantum Hall states in the low-dimensional structure of topological semimetals.
Dirac semimetal PdTe2 single-crystal temperature-dependent ultrafast carrier and phonon dynamics were studied using ultrafast optical pump-probe spectroscopy. Two distinct carrier and coherent phonons relaxation processes were identified in the 5 K - 300 K range. Quantitative analysis revealed a fast relaxation process ({tau}_f) occurring on a subpicosecond time scale which originated from electron-phonon thermalization. This was followed by a slower relaxation process ({tau}_s) with a time scale of ~ 7-9.5 ps which originated from phonon-assisted electron-hole recombination. Two significant vibrational modes resolved at all measured temperatures and corresponded to Te atoms in-plane (E_g), and out-of-plane (A_1g), motion. As temperature increased both phonon modes softened markedly. A_1g mode frequency monotonically decreased as temperature increased. Its damping rate remained virtually unchanged. As expected, E_g decreased uniformly as temperatures rose. At temperatures above 80 K, there was insignificant change. Test results suggested that pure dephasing played an important role in the relaxation processes. PdTe2 phonon is thought responsible for its superconductive properties. Examining phonons behavior should improve the understanding of its complex superconductivity.
A large negative magnetoresistance is anticipated in topological semimetals in the parallel magnetic and electric field configuration as a consequence of the nontrivial topological properties. The negative magnetoresistance is believed to demonstrate the chiral anomaly, a long-sought high-energy physics effect, in solid-state systems. Recent experiments reveal that Cd3As2, a Dirac topological semimetal, has the record-high mobility and exhibits positive linear magnetoresistance in the orthogonal magnetic and electric field configuration. However, the negative magnetoresistance in the parallel magnetic and electric field configuration remains unveiled. Here, we report the observation of the negative magnetoresistance in Cd3As2 microribbons in the parallel magnetic and electric field configuration as large as 66% at 50 K and even visible at room temperatures. The observed negative magnetoresistance is sensitive to the angle between magnetic and electrical field, robust against temperature, and dependent on the carrier density. We have found that carrier densities of our Cd3As2 samples obey an Arrheniuss law, decreasing from 3.0x10^17 cm^-3 at 300 K to 2.2x10^16 cm^-3 below 50 K. The low carrier densities result in the large values of the negative magnetoresistance. We therefore attribute the observed negative magnetoresistance to the chiral anomaly. Furthermore, in the perpendicular magnetic and electric field configuration a positive non-saturating linear magnetoresistance up to 1670% at 14 T and 2 K is also observed. This work demonstrates potential applications of topological semimetals in magnetic devices.