Weak Antilocalization and Negative Magnetoresistance of the Gate-Tunable PbTe Thin Films

Abstract

We have systematically studied the electromagnetic transport properties of PbTe thin films under gate voltage modulation. The system demonstrates pronounced electron–electron interactions exclusively within the gate voltage range where only hole carriers are present. Furthermore, the Berry phase is utilized to qualitatively elucidate the transition between weak antilocalization (WAL) and weak localization (WL) through the regulation of gate voltage and temperature. Using the three-resistor model, we have effectively explained the correlation between the characteristic temperature of the R–T curve, the coexistence of electron–hole carriers, and the nonmonotonic temperature dependence of negative magnetoresistance (NMR), consistently indicating that complex magnetotransport phenomena are caused by microscopic disorder. Our research findings open up new avenues for exploring and manipulating the magnetotransport properties of PbTe thin films.