Electron transport in nodal-line semimetals

Abstract

We study the electrical conductivity in a nodal-line semimetal with charged impurities. The screening of the Coulomb potential in this system is qualitatively different from what is found in conventional metals or semiconductors, with the screened potential $\phi$ decaying as $\phi \propto 1/r^2$ over a wide interval of distances $r$. This unusual screening gives rise to a rich variety of conduction regimes as a function of temperature, doping level and impurity concentration. In particular, nodal-line semimetals exhibit a diverging mobility $\propto 1/|\mu|$ in the limit of vanishing chemical potential $\mu$, a linearly-increasing dependence of the conductivity on temperature, $\sigma \propto T$, and a large weak-localization correction with a strongly anisotropic dependence on magnetic field.