Cyclotron resonance and Faraday rotation in graphite

The optical conductivity of graphite in quantizing magnetic fields is analytically evaluated for frequencies in the range of 10--300 meV, where the electron relaxation processes can be neglected and the low-energy excitations at the "Dirac lines" are more essential. The conductivity peaks are explained in terms of the electron transitions in graphite. Conductivity calculated per one graphite layer tends on average to the universal conductivity of graphene while the frequency is larger than the Landau spacing. The (semi)metal-insulator transformation is possible under doping in high magnetic fields.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2: A review of material properties

Cadmium arsenide (Cd3As2) - a time-honored and widely explored material in solid-state physics - has recently attracted considerable attention. This was triggered by a theoretical prediction concerning the presence of 3D symmetry-protected massless Dirac electrons, which could turn Cd3As2 into a 3D analogue of graphene. Subsequent extended experimental studies have provided us with compelling experimental evidence of conical bands in this system, and revealed a number of interesting properties and phenomena. At the same time, some of the material properties remain the subject of vast discussions despite recent intensive experimental and theoretical efforts, which may hinder the progress in understanding and applications of this appealing material. In this review, we focus on the basic material parameters and properties of Cd3As2, in particular those which are directly related to the conical features in the electronic band structure of this material. The outcome of experimental investigations, performed on Cd3As2 using various spectroscopic and transport techniques within the past sixty years, is compared with theoretical studies. These theoretical works gave us not only simplified effective models, but more recently, also the electronic band structure calculated numerically using ab initio methods.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figure

Spin resonance in EuTiO3 probed by time-domain GHz ellipsometry

We show an example of a purely magnetic spin resonance in EuTiO3 and the resulting new record high Faraday rotation of 590 deg/mm at 1.6 T for 1 cm wavelengths probed by a novel technique of magneto-optical GHz time-domain ellipsometry. From our transmission measurements of linear polarized light we map out the complex index of refraction in the GHz to THz range. We observe a strong resonant absorption by magnetic dipole transitions involving the Zeeman split S=7/2 magnetic energy levels of the Eu 2+ ions, which causes a very large dichroism for circular polarized radiation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Two-dimensional conical dispersion in ZrTe5 evidenced by optical spectroscopy

Zirconium pentatelluride was recently reported to be a 3D Dirac semimetal, with a single conical band, located at the center of the Brillouin zone. The cone's lack of protection by the lattice symmetry immediately sparked vast discussions about the size and topological/trivial nature of a possible gap opening. Here we report on a combined optical and transport study of ZrTe5, which reveals an alternative view of electronic bands in this material. We conclude that the dispersion is approximately linear only in the a-c plane, while remaining relatively flat and parabolic in the third direction (along the b axis). Therefore, the electronic states in ZrTe5 cannot be described using the model of 3D Dirac massless electrons, even when staying at energies well above the band gap 6 meV found in our experiments at low temperatures.Comment: Physical Review Letters 122, 217402 (2019). Corrected acknowledgment

BiTeCl and BiTeBr: a comparative high-pressure optical study

We here report a detailed high-pressure infrared transmission study of BiTeCl and BiTeBr. We follow the evolution of two band transitions: the optical excitation $\beta$ between two Rashba-split conduction bands, and the absorption $\gamma$ across the band gap. In the low pressure range, $p< 4$~GPa, for both compounds $\beta$ is approximately constant with pressure and $\gamma$ decreases, in agreement with band structure calculations. In BiTeCl, a clear pressure-induced phase transition at 6~GPa leads to a different ground state. For BiTeBr, the pressure evolution is more subtle, and we discuss the possibility of closing and reopening of the band gap. Our data is consistent with a Weyl phase in BiTeBr at 5$-$6~GPa, followed by the onset of a structural phase transition at 7~GPa.Comment: are welcom

Multi-component magneto-optical conductivity of multilayer graphene on SiC

Far-infrared diagonal and Hall conductivities of multilayer epitaxial graphene on the C-face of SiC were measured using magneto-optical absorption and Faraday rotation in magnetic fields up to 7 T and temperatures between 5 and 300 K. Multiple components are identified in the spectra, which include: (i) a quasi-classical cyclotron resonance (CR), originating from the highly doped graphene layer closest to SiC, (ii) transitions between low-index Landau levels (LLs), which stem from weakly doped layers and (iii) a broad optical absorption background. Electron and hole type LL transitions are optically distinguished and shown to coexist. An electron-hole asymmetry of the Fermi velocity of about 2% was found within one graphene layer, while the Fermi velocity varies by about 10% across the layers. The optical intensity of the LL transitions is several times smaller than what is theoretically expected for isolated graphene monolayers without electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Infrared spectroscopy study of the in-plane response of YBa2Cu3O6.6 in magnetic fields up to 30 Tesla

With Terahertz and Infrared spectroscopy we studied the in-plane response of an underdoped YBa2Cu3O6.6 single crystal with Tc=58(1) K in high magnetic fields up to B=30 Tesla applied along the c-axis. Our goal was to investigate the field-induced suppression of superconductivity and to observe the signatures of the three dimensional (3d) incommensurate copper charge density wave (Cu-CDW) which was previously shown to develop at such high magnetic fields. Our study confirms that a B-field in excess of 20 Tesla gives rise to a full suppression of the macroscopic response of the superconducting condensate. However, it reveals surprisingly weak signatures of the 3d Cu-CDW at high magnetic fields. At 30 Tesla there is only a weak reduction of the spectral weight of the Drude-response (by about 3%) that is accompanied by an enhancement of two narrow electronic modes around 90 and 240 cm-1, that are interpreted in terms of pinned phase modes of the CDW along the a- and b-direction, respectively, and of the so-called mid-infrared (MIR) band. The pinned phased modes and the MIR band are strong features already without magnetic field which suggests that prominent but short-ranged and slowly fluctuating (compared to the picosecond IR-time scale) CDW correlations exist all along, i.e., even at zero magnetic field.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Intrinsic Terahertz Plasmons and Magnetoplasmons in Large Scale Monolayer Graphene

We show that in graphene epitaxially grown on SiC the Drude absorption is transformed into a strong terahertz plasmonic peak due to natural nanoscale inhomogeneities, such as substrate terraces and wrinkles. The excitation of the plasmon modifies dramatically the magneto-optical response and in particular the Faraday rotation. This makes graphene a unique playground for plasmon-controlled magneto-optical phenomena thanks to a cyclotron mass 2 orders of magnitude smaller than in conventional plasmonic materials such as noble metals.Comment: to appear in Nano Letter

Non-uniform carrier density in Cd3_3As2_2 evidenced by optical spectroscopy

We report the detailed optical properties of Cd$_3$As$_2$ crystals in a wide parameter space: temperature, magnetic field, carrier concentration and crystal orientation. We investigate high-quality crystals synthesized by three different techniques. In all the studied samples, independently of how they were prepared and how they were treated before the optical experiments, our data indicate conspicuous fluctuations in the carrier density (up to 30%). These charge puddles have a characteristic scale of 100 $\mu$m, they become more pronounced at low temperatures, and possibly, they become enhanced by the presence of crystal twinning. The Drude response is characterized by very small scattering rates ($\sim 1$ meV) for as-grown samples. Mechanical treatment, such as cutting or polishing, influences the optical properties of single crystals, by increasing the Drude scattering rate and also modifying the high frequency optical response. Magneto-reflectivity and Kerr rotation are consistent with electron-like charge carriers and a spatially non-uniform carrier density.Comment: Accepted in Physical Review