Lorentz skew scattering nonreciprocal magneto-transport.

Abstract

In materials with broken inversion symmetry, nonreciprocal magneto-transport manifests as a bilinear dependence of charge conductivity on electric and magnetic fields. This phenomenon is rooted in symmetry and electronic quantum geometry and is relevant for rectification and detection technologies. Experimental studies generally attribute nonreciprocal magneto-transport to Zeeman-driven mechanisms and exhibit quadratic scaling with conductivity. Here, we report a microscopic mechanism based on Lorentz skew scattering in BiTeBr, arising from the cooperation of classical Lorentz force and quantum skew scattering, exhibiting a quartic scaling of the nonreciprocal response. Systematic measurements on samples with different mobilities reveal a crossover between Zeeman-related and Lorentz-skew scattering-dominated regimes, uncovering the mobility plays a central role in determining the dominant mechanism. Our finding unveils the leading mechanism in high-mobility systems and suggests a universal principle towards strong nonreciprocal response by enhancing electronic relaxation time in topological materials, rendering guidance for low-dissipation rectifiers and high-performance quantum electronics.