Experimental Realization of a Three-Dimensional Dirac Semimetal Phase with a Tunable Lifshitz Transition in Au_{2}Pb.

Three-dimensional Dirac semimetals are an exotic state of matter that continue to attract increasing attention due to the unique properties of their low-energy excitations. Here, by performing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we investigate the electronic structure of Au_{2}Pb across a wide temperature range. Our experimental studies on the (111)-cleaved surface unambiguously demonstrate that Au_{2}Pb is a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal characterized by the presence of a bulk Dirac cone projected off-center of the bulk Brillouin zone (BZ), in agreement with our theoretical calculations. Unusually, we observe that the bulk Dirac cone is significantly shifted by more than 0.4 eV to higher binding energies with reducing temperature, eventually going through a Lifshitz transition. The pronounced downward shift is qualitatively reproduced by our calculations indicating that an enhanced orbital overlap upon compression of the lattice, which preserves C_{4} rotational symmetry, is the main driving mechanism for the Lifshitz transition. These findings not only broaden the range of currently known materials exhibiting three-dimensional Dirac phases, but also show a viable mechanism by which it could be possible to switch on and off the contribution of the degeneracy point to electron transport without external doping.

Free-carrier dynamics in Au2Pb probed by optical conductivity measurements.

We measured the optical reflectivity of the Dirac material Au2Pb in a broad frequency range (30-48 000 cm-1) for temperatures between 9 and 300 K. The optical conductivity, computed from the reflectivity, is dominated by free-carrier contributions from topologically trivial bulk bands at all temperatures. The temperature-independent total plasma frequency of these carriers is [Formula: see text] eV. Overall, optical response of Au2Pb is typically metallic with no signs of localization and bad-metal behavior.

Electron-Hole Tunneling Revealed by Quantum Oscillations in the Nodal-Line Semimetal HfSiS.

We report a study of quantum oscillations in the high-field magnetoresistance of the nodal-line semimetal HfSiS. In the presence of a magnetic field up to 31 T parallel to the c axis, we observe quantum oscillations originating both from orbits of individual electron and hole pockets, and from magnetic breakdown between these pockets. In particular, we reveal a breakdown orbit enclosing one electron and one hole pocket in the form of a "figure of eight," which is a manifestation of Klein tunneling in momentum space, although in a regime of partial transmission due to the finite separation between the pockets. The observed very strong dependence of the oscillation amplitude on the field angle and the cyclotron masses of the orbits are in agreement with the theoretical predictions for this novel tunneling phenomenon.

Flat Optical Conductivity in ZrSiS due to Two-Dimensional Dirac Bands.

ZrSiS exhibits a frequency-independent interband conductivity σ(ω)=const(ω)≡σ_{flat} in a broad range from 250 to 2500 cm^{-1} (30-300 meV). This makes ZrSiS similar to (quasi-)two-dimensional Dirac electron systems, such as graphite and graphene. We assign the flat optical conductivity to the transitions between quasi-two-dimensional Dirac bands near the Fermi level. In contrast to graphene, σ_{flat} is not universal but related to the length of the nodal line in the reciprocal space, k_{0}. Because of spin-orbit coupling, the discussed Dirac bands in ZrSiS possess a small gap Δ, for which we determine an upper bound max(Δ)=30 meV from our optical measurements. At low temperatures the momentum-relaxation rate collapses, and the characteristic length scale of momentum relaxation is of the order of microns below 50 K.