Signatures of Electron Fractionalization in Ultraquantum Bismuth

Abstract

Because of the long Fermi wavelength of itinerant electrons, the quantum limit of elemental bismuth (unlike most metals) can be attained with a moderate magnetic field. The quantized orbits of electrons shrink with increasing magnetic field. Beyond the quantum limit, the circumference of these orbits becomes shorter than the Fermi wavelength. We studied transport coefficients of a single crystal of bismuth up to 33 tesla, which is deep in this ultraquantum limit. The Nernst coefficient presents three unexpected maxima that are concomitant with quasi-plateaus in the Hall coefficient. The results suggest that this bulk element may host an exotic quantum fluid reminiscent of the one associated with the fractional quantum Hall effect and raise the issue of electron fractionalization in a three-dimensional metal.

9 pages, four figures and supposrting online material

References in corpus (3)

• Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Enhanced Magnetic Response by Spin-Orbit Coupling
• Oscillating Nernst-Ettingshausen effect in Bismuth across the quantum limit
• Quantum Nernst Effect

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• Interband Effects of Magnetic Field on Hall Effects for Dirac Electrons in Bismuth
• Infrared Conductivity of Elemental Bismuth under Pressure: Evidence for an Avoided Lifshitz-Type Semimetal-Semiconductor Transition
• Transport anomalies across the quantum limit in semimetallic Bi${}_{0.96}$Sb${}_{0.04}$
• Phase diagram of bismuth in the extreme quantum limit
• Landau spectrum and twin boundaries of bismuth in the extreme quantum limit
• Signatures of surface states in bismuth at high magnetic fields
• Origin of the peaks in the Nernst coefficient of bismuth in strong magnetic fields
• Nernst response of the Landau tubes in graphite across the quantum limit
• Quantum Nernst Effect in a Bismuth Single Crystal
• Oscillations of the Nernst coefficient in bismuth
• A topological Dirac insulator in a quantum spin Hall phase (experimental realization of a 3D Topological Insulator)