Uniaxial strain-induced spin zero effect in ZrTe5

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Abstract
We report uniaxial-strain control of spin interference in the Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations of ZrTe5. With increasing tensile strain along the crystallographic a axis, the SdH amplitude develops a pronounced node followed by a sign reversal of the oscillatory component, signaling a strain-tunable spin-zero condition. In contrast, the Landau fan intercept remains close to the value expected for a π Berry phase, indicating that the sign reversal is not caused by a global change in the Berry phase inferred from the fan diagram. We show that this behavior is captured by a strain-driven evolution of the relative phase between Zeeman-split cyclotron orbits. This evolution arises from the combined effects of strain-dependent splitting of the extremal Fermi-surface areas and an effective spin-dependent geometric phase in the Zeeman-split Dirac bands. Our results establish uniaxial strain as an in situ mechanical tuning parameter for accessing and traversing the spin-zero condition in topological quantum transport in ZrTe5.
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (12334002)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (12274436)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (12188101)
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1403700)
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China (2024YFA1409100)
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFA1403800)
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China (2024YFA1408400)
  • Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2020KCXTD001)
  • Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen Municipality (RCJC20200714114435105)
  • Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay AreaQuantum Science Center Research Initiation Fund (QD2301004)
  • Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay AreaQuantum Science Center Research Initiation Fund (QD2301002)
  • Guangdong Provincial Quantum Science Strategic Initiative (GDZX2401011)
  • New Cornerstone Science Foundation (XPLORER PRIZE)

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