Reentrant Landau levels in a Dirac topological insulator.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 42173850.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-72885-9.
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Abstract
Pentatellurides have emerged as an ideal platform for exploring topological phase transitions and their electronic properties. Positioned at the boundary between a strong and weak topological insulator phase, their low carrier density and linear dispersion enable a three-dimensional Dirac Hamiltonian description. A complete understanding of these materials remains elusive due to unexplained sample variability. In particular, these materials have been shown to host anomalous magnetoresistance including <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mi>log</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mi>B</mi></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></math>-periodic signals, non-<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mi>log</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><mrow><mi>B</mi></mrow><mo>)</mo></mrow></math> and non-1/B oscillations, in addition to the conventional 1/B quantum oscillations. Differing interpretations invoke many-body effects and there is currently no unified understanding of these oscillations. Here we report non-1/B oscillations in ZrTe<sub>5</sub> down to 700 mK and up to 60 T, with a temperature and magnetic field dependence that violates the Lifshitz-Kosevich framework. We show that nonlinear Landau-level back-bending, arising from the interplay of cyclotron energy and strong spin-orbit coupling in a non-interacting Dirac system, captures all observed regimes and provides a foundation for understanding the electron dynamics of Dirac topological insulators beyond the quantum limit.