Hall plateaus emerge near the quantum limit in bulk HfTe₅
Plateaus in Hall resistance coincided with minima, but not zeros, in longitudinal resistance.
Peng Wang and colleagues traced a series of Hall-resistance plateaus in bulk HfTe₅ up to the quantum limit at roughly 1–2 T. At the last few plateaus the longitudinal resistance was far smaller than the Hall resistance, although it remained finite.
An independent estimate from quantum oscillations linked the Fermi wavelength to the plateau height. Comparing the bands of HfTe₅ and ZrTe₅, the authors suggested that an extra pocket near the Fermi level in HfTe₅ could sustain a residual conduction channel. The coauthors included Liyuan Zhang.