Berry paramagnetism in the Dirac semimetal ZrTe5.

Dirac matters have attracted a lot of interest due to their unique band structure with linear band dispersions, which have great potential for technological applications. Recently, three-dimensional Dirac and Weyl semimetals have invoked distinctive phenomena originating from a non-trivial Berry phase. In this study, we prepare single crystals of Ti_xZr_1-xTe₅ with a highly anisotropic Fermi surface. Our detailed electrical transport measurements reveal that the crystals show the Lifshitz transition, and Ti doping induces a band shift. Further quantum oscillation analyses demonstrate that the Ti_xZr_1-xTe₅ crystals are 3D Dirac semimetals. Additionally, we observed a minimum temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility, which is close to a peak position of electrical resistivity. This observation is interpreted in terms of the Berry paramagnetism. Our finding paves the way to determine a band topology by magnetism and also provides a platform to apply the Berry magnetism to Dirac semimetals. Topologically non-trivial materials demonstrate a range of exotic electronic phases related to the Berry phase of the system and recent investigations are also considering the magnetic properties in order to further enrich the physics of these materials. Here, the authors perform electronic transport and magnetization measurements on single crystals of Ti-doped ZrTe5 revealing them to be 3D Dirac semimetals that may also exhibit Berry paramagnetism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]