Anomalous High-Field Magnetotransport in CaFeAsF due to the Quantum Hall Effect


Abstract in English

The discovery of iron-based superconductors caused great excitement, as they were the second high-$T_c$ materials after cuprates. Because of a peculiar topological feature of the electronic band structure, investigators quickly realized that the antiferromagnetic parent phase harbors Dirac fermions. Here we show that the parent phase also exhibits the quantum Hall effect. We determined the longitudinal and Hall conductivities in CaFeAsF up to a magnetic field of 45 T and found that both approach zero above ~40 T. CaFeAsF has Dirac electrons and Schrodinger holes, and our analysis indicates that the Landau-level filling factor $ u$ = 2 for both at these high field strengths. We therefore argue that the $ u$ = 0 quantum Hall state emerges under these conditions. Our finding of quantum Hall physics at play in a topologically nontrivial parent phase adds a new dimension to research on iron-based superconductors and also provides a new material variety for the study of the $ u$ = 0 quantum Hall state.

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