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 $\ensuremath{\phi}$ decaying as $\ensuremath{\phi}\ensuremath{\propto}1/{r}^{2}$ 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 $\ensuremath{\propto}1/|\ensuremath{\mu}|$ in the limit of vanishing chemical potential $\ensuremath{\mu}$, a linearly increasing dependence of the conductivity on temperature, $\ensuremath{\sigma}\ensuremath{\propto}T$, and a large weak-localization correction with a strongly anisotropic dependence on magnetic field.