Log-periodic quantum magneto-oscillations and discrete-scale invariance in topological material HfTe5

Huichao Wang; Yanzhao Liu; Yongjie Liu; Chuanying Xi; Junfeng Wang; Jun Liu; Yong Wang; Liang Li; Shu Ping Lau; Mingliang Tian; Jiaqiang Yan; David Mandrus; Ji-Yan Dai; Haiwen Liu; Xincheng Xie; Jian Wang

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwz110

Log-periodic quantum magneto-oscillations and discrete-scale invariance in topological material HfTe₅

Natl Sci Rev. 2019 Oct;6(5):914-920. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwz110. Epub 2019 Aug 6.

Authors

Huichao Wang^{1

2}, Yanzhao Liu¹, Yongjie Liu³, Chuanying Xi⁴, Junfeng Wang³, Jun Liu⁵, Yong Wang⁵, Liang Li³, Shu Ping Lau², Mingliang Tian⁴, Jiaqiang Yan⁶, David Mandrus^{6

7}, Ji-Yan Dai², Haiwen Liu⁸, Xincheng Xie^{1

9

10

11}, Jian Wang^{1

9

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
² Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
³ Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
⁴ High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
⁵ Center of Electron Microscopy, State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
⁶ Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA.
⁷ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
⁸ Center for Advanced Quantum Studies, Department of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
⁹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
¹⁰ CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
¹¹ Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.

Abstract

Discrete-scale invariance (DSI) is a phenomenon featuring intriguing log-periodicity that can be rarely observed in quantum systems. Here, we report the log-periodic quantum oscillations in the longitudinal magnetoresistivity (ρ_xx ) and the Hall traces (ρ_yx ) of HfTe₅ crystals, which reveal the DSI in the transport-coefficients matrix. The oscillations in ρ_xx and ρ_yx show the consistent logB-periodicity with a phase shift. The finding of the logB oscillations in the Hall resistance supports the physical mechanism as a general quantum effect originating from the resonant scattering. Combined with theoretical simulations, we further clarify the origin of the log-periodic oscillations and the DSI in the topological materials. This work evidences the universality of the DSI in the Dirac materials and provides indispensable information for a full understanding of this novel phenomenon.

Keywords: Dirac materials; Hall resistance; discrete-scale invariance; log-periodic oscillations; magnetoresistance; topological materials.