Nonsaturating large magnetoresistance in the high carrier density nonsymmorphic metal CrP

Abstract

The band structure of high carrier density metal CrP features an interesting crossing at the $Y$ point of the Brillouin zone. The crossing, which is protected by the nonsymmorphic symmetry of the space group, results in a hybrid, semi-Dirac-like energy-momentum dispersion relation near $Y$. The linear energy-momentum dispersion relation along $Y\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ is reminiscent of the observed band structure in several semimetallic extremely large magnetoresistance (XMR) materials. We have measured the transverse magnetoresistance of CrP up to 14 T at temperatures as low as $\ensuremath{\sim}16$ mK. Our data reveal a nonsaturating, quadratic magnetoresistance as well as the behavior of the so-called ``turn-on'' temperature in the temperature dependence of resistivity. Despite the difference in the magnitude of the magnetoresistance and the fact that CrP is not a semimetal, these features are qualitatively similar to the observations reported for XMR materials. Thus, the high-field electrical transport studies of CrP offer the prospect of identifying the possible origin of the nonsaturating, quadratic magnetoresistance observed in a wide range of metals.