Observation of open Fermi surface in bismuth

Abstract

Bismuth is a candidate material for three dimensional higher dimensional topological insulators. We performed electronic transport experiments on small diameter crystalline bismuth nanowires to clarify the role of the proposed hinge channels in the interlayer coupling. The magnetoresistance presents a sequence of peaks at Yamaji magic angles for which the interlayer group velocity is zero pointing to flat bands due to the layered structure. Furthermore, we observe a peak for high magnetic fields applied parallel to the layers, a definitive signature of interlayer coherence that enables deduction of the interlayer transfer integral of 8 meV. We demonstrate transport by a corrugated open Fermi surface of holes that is extended, with the high angular precision of around 0.016 rad in the interlayer direction. The observations indicate that coherence and the crystallographic direction set by hinges play a key role in the interlayer coupling of bismuth.