Dirac fermions at the H point of graphite: Magneto-transmission studies

M. Orlita, C. Faugeras, G. Martinez, D. K. Maude, M. L. Sadowski, M. Potemski

Published 2007-09-17, updated 2008-02-08Version 3

We report on far infrared magneto-transmission measurements on a thin graphite sample prepared by exfoliation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. In magnetic field, absorption lines exhibiting a blue-shift proportional to sqrtB are observed. This is a fingerprint for massless Dirac holes at the H point in bulk graphite. The Fermi velocity is found to be c*=1.02x10^6 m/s and the pseudogap at the H point is estimated to be below 10 meV. Although the holes behave to a first approximation as a strictly 2D gas of Dirac fermions, the full 3D band structure has to be taken into account to explain all the observed spectral features.