Anomalous Thermoelectric Effects of ZrTe5 in and beyond the Quantum Limit

J. L. Zhang, C. M. Wang, C. Y. Guo, X. D. Zhu, Y. Zhang, J. Y. Yang, Y. Q. Wang, Z. Qu, L. Pi, Hai-Zhou Lu, and M. L. Tian
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 196602 – Published 6 November 2019
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Abstract

Thermoelectric effects are more sensitive and promising probes to topological properties of emergent materials, but much less addressed compared to other physical properties. We study the thermoelectric effects of ZrTe5 in a magnetic field. The presence of the nontrivial electrons leads to the anomalous Nernst effect and quasilinear field dependence of thermopower below the quantum limit. In the strong-field quantum limit, both the thermopower and Nernst signal exhibit exotic peaks. At higher magnetic fields, the Nernst signal has a sign reversal at a critical field where the thermopower approaches zero. We propose that these anomalous behaviors can be attributed to the gap closing of the zeroth Landau bands in topological materials with the band inversion. Our understanding to the anomalous thermoelectric properties in ZrTe5 opens a new avenue for exploring Dirac physics in topological materials.

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  • Received 14 April 2019
  • Revised 14 August 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.196602

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

J. L. Zhang1,*, C. M. Wang2,3,4,†, C. Y. Guo4, X. D. Zhu1, Y. Zhang1, J. Y. Yang1, Y. Q. Wang1, Z. Qu1, L. Pi1, Hai-Zhou Lu3,5,‡, and M. L. Tian1,6,7,§

  • 1Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics at Extreme Conditions, High Magnetic Field Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, Anhui, China
  • 2Department of Physics, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
  • 3Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering and Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
  • 4Institute of Material Science and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 5Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Quantum Science and Engineering, Shenzhen 518055, China
  • 6School of Physics and Materials Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, Anhui,China
  • 7Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

  • *Corresponding author. zhangjinglei@hmfl.ac.cn
  • Corresponding author. wangcm@shnu.edu.cn
  • Corresponding author. luhz@sustech.edu.cn
  • §Corresponding author. tianml@hmfl.ac.cn

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Issue

Vol. 123, Iss. 19 — 8 November 2019

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