Cyclotron motion in the vicinity of a Lifshitz transition in graphite

M. Orlita, P. Neugebauer, C. Faugeras, A. -L. Barra, M. Potemski, F. M. D. Pellegrino, D. M. Basko

Published 2011-09-23, updated 2011-11-22Version 2

Graphite, a model (semi)metal with trigonally warped bands, is investigated with magneto-absorption experiment and viewed as an electronic system in the vicinity of the Lifshitz transition. A characteristic pattern of up to twenty cyclotron resonance harmonics has been observed. This large number of resonances, their relative strengths and characteristic shapes trace the universal properties of the electronic states near a separatrix in the momentum space. Quantum-mechanical perturbative methods with respect to the trigonal warping term hardly describe the data which are, on the other hand, fairly well reproduced within a quasi-classical approach and conventional band structure model. Trigonal symmetry is preserved in graphite in contrast to a similar system, bilayer graphene.