Linearly dispersing carriers in atomically thin NdTe3

The search for materials supporting ultrafast charge transport has long driven the development of nanoelectronics. Since the isolation of graphene, numerous efforts have focused on expanding the class of linearly dispersive layered materials while scaling their electronic properties to the unit-cell limit. Here, we demonstrate that atomically thin layers of antiferromagnetic NdTe3 can be isolated onto Au films, down to a single unit cell, through enhanced adhesion. Exfoliation using discontinuous Au films furthermore enables direct electrical transport measurements. Magnetotransport reveals the persistence of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in atomically thin samples. Despite suppressed residual resistivity ratio and magnetoresistance relative to bulk crystals, we observe no significant modifications of the electronic structure, with linear dispersive bands persisting across all thicknesses. Multiple spin-zero effects from distinct Fermi pockets further indicate an enhanced effective g-factor that may extend to other members of the RTe3 family. Rareearth tellurides are a family of layered materials hosting a rich array of correlated orders. Despite the layered structure, they have thus far resisted efforts in exfoliation. Here, Zheliuk and coauthor succeed in exfoliating NdTe3 and showing the preservation of the electronic structure down to the monolayer limit.