Detection of Berry's phase in a Bulk Rashba semiconductor

Science. 2013 Dec 20;342(6165):1490-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1242247.

Abstract

The motion of electrons in a solid has a profound effect on its topological properties and may result in a nonzero Berry's phase, a geometric quantum phase encoded in the system's electronic wave function. Despite its ubiquity, there are few experimental observations of Berry's phase of bulk states. Here, we report detection of a nontrivial π Berry's phase in the bulk Rashba semiconductor BiTeI via analysis of the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect. The extremely large Rashba splitting in this material enables the separation of SdH oscillations, stemming from the spin-split inner and outer Fermi surfaces. For both Fermi surfaces, we observe a systematic π-phase shift in SdH oscillations, consistent with the theoretically predicted nontrivial π Berry's phase in Rashba systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.