Extremely large magnetoresistance from electron-hole compensation in the nodal-loop semimetal<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mi>ZrP</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math>
J. Bannies, E. Razzoli, Matteo Michiardi, Hsiang‐Hsi Kung, Ilya Elfimov, M. Yao, А. В. Федоров, J. Fink, Chris Jozwiak, Aaron Bostwick, Eli Rotenberg, A. Damascelli, Claudia Felser
Abstract
Several early transition metal dipnictides (TMDPs) have been found to host topological semimetal states and exhibit large magnetoresistance (MR). In this paper, we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and magnetotransport to study the electronic properties of a TMDP ${\mathrm{ZrP}}_{2}$. We find that ${\mathrm{ZrP}}_{2}$ exhibits an extremely large and unsaturated MR of up to 40 000% at 2 K, which originates from an almost perfect electron-hole (e-h) compensation. Our band structure calculations further show that ${\mathrm{ZrP}}_{2}$ hosts a topological nodal loop in proximity to the Fermi level. Based on the ARPES measurements, we confirm the results of our calculations and determine the surface band structure. This paper establishes ${\mathrm{ZrP}}_{2}$ as a platform to investigate near-perfect e-h compensation and its interplay with topological band structures.