Abstract
The Nernst effect has recently emerged as a very sensitive, yet poorly understood, probe of electron organization in solids1,2,3,4. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms set in a honeycomb lattice, embeds a two-dimensional gas of massless electrons5 and hosts a particular version of the quantum Hall effect6,7. Recent experimental investigations of its thermoelectric response8,9,10 are in agreement with the theory conceived for a two-dimensional electron system in the quantum Hall regime11,12. Here, we report on a study of graphite13, a macroscopic stack of graphene layers, which establishes a fundamental link between the dimensionality of an electronic system and its Nernst response. In striking contrast with the single-layer case, the Nernst signal sharply peaks whenever a Landau level meets the Fermi level. Thus, the degrees of freedom provided by finite interlayer coupling lead to an enhanced thermoelectric response in the vicinity of the quantum limit. As Landau quantization slices a three-dimensional Fermi surface, each intersection of a Landau level with the Fermi level modifies the Fermi-surface topology. According to our results, the most prominent signature of such a topological phase transition emerges in the transverse thermoelectric response.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Varlamov for stimulating discussions and in particular for introducing ref.16 to us. This work is supported by the Agence Nationale de Recherche (ANR-08-BLAN-0121-02) as a part of the DELICE project in France and by FAPESP and CNPq in Brazil. Z.Z. acknowledges a scholarship granted by the China Scholarship Council.
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Z.Z. (assisted by H.Y. and B.F.) carried out the experiment and (assisted by K.B.) analysed the data and prepared the figures. Y.K. initiated this work. K.B. wrote the paper.
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Zhu, Z., Yang, H., Fauqué, B. et al. Nernst effect and dimensionality in the quantum limit. Nature Phys 6, 26–29 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1437
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1437
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