Thermodynamic evidence for valley-dependent density of states in bulk bismuth

The electronic properties of bismuth under an applied magnetic field have latterly become a topic of interest. An angle-resolved magnetostriction approach is now used to provide thermodynamic evidence for unusual symmetry-breaking effects. Electron-like carriers in bismuth are described by the Dirac Hamiltonian, with a band mass becoming a thousandth of the bare electron mass along one crystalline axis 1 . The existence of three anisotropic valleys offers electrons an additional degree of freedom, a subject of recent attention 2 . Here, we map the Landau spectrum by angle-resolved magnetostriction, and quantify the carrier number in each valley: while the electron valleys keep identical spectra, they substantially differ in their density of states at the Fermi level. Thus, the electron fluid does not keep the rotational symmetry of the lattice at low temperature and high magnetic field, even in the absence of internal strain. This effect, reminiscent of the Coulomb pseudogap in localized electronic states, affects only electrons in the immediate vicinity of the Fermi level. It presents the most striking departure from the non-interacting picture of electrons in bulk bismuth.