RESUMO
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RESUMO
An axion insulator is a correlated topological phase, which is predicted to arise from the formation of a charge-density wave in a Weyl semimetal1,2-that is, a material in which electrons behave as massless chiral fermions. The accompanying sliding mode in the charge-density-wave phase-the phason-is an axion3,4 and is expected to cause anomalous magnetoelectric transport effects. However, this axionic charge-density wave has not yet been experimentally detected. Here we report the observation of a large positive contribution to the magnetoconductance in the sliding mode of the charge-density-wave Weyl semimetal (TaSe4)2I for collinear electric and magnetic fields. The positive contribution to the magnetoconductance originates from the anomalous axionic contribution of the chiral anomaly to the phason current, and is locked to the parallel alignment of the electric and magnetic fields. By rotating the magnetic field, we show that the angular dependence of the magnetoconductance is consistent with the anomalous transport of an axionic charge-density wave. Our results show that it is possible to find experimental evidence for axions in strongly correlated topological condensed matter systems, which have so far been elusive in any other context.
RESUMO
The quasi-quantized Hall effect (QQHE) is the three-dimensional (3D) counterpart of the integer quantum Hall effect (QHE), exhibited only by two-dimensional (2D) electron systems. It has recently been observed in layered materials, consisting of stacks of weakly coupled 2D platelets that are yet characterized by a 3D anisotropic Fermi surface. However, it is predicted that the quasi-quantized 3D version of the 2D QHE should occur in a much broader class of bulk materials, regardless of the underlying crystal structure. Here, we compare the observation of quasi-quantized plateau-like features in the Hall conductivity of the n-type bulk semiconductor InAs with the predictions for the 3D QQHE in presence of parabolic electron bands. InAs takes form of a cubic crystal without any low-dimensional substructure. The onset of the plateau-like feature in the Hall conductivity scales with [Formula: see text] in units of the conductance quantum and is accompanied by a Shubnikov-de Haas minimum in the longitudinal resistivity, consistent wit the results of calculations. This confirms the suggestion that the 3D QQHE may be a generic effect directly observable in materials with small Fermi surfaces, placed in sufficiently strong magnetic fields.