Observation of linear magnetoresistance and planar Hall effect in the Dirac semimetal PdTe

Abstract: PdTe is a Dirac semimetal that also exhibits superconductivity, providing an intriguing platform to explore topological superconductivity and unconventional magnetotransport phenomena. While the superconducting properties of PdTe have been extensively studied in recent years, the detailed magnetotransport phenomena have remained unexplored. Here, we present the first observation of linear magnetoresistance (LMR) and the planar Hall effect (PHE) in a high-quality single crystal of PdTe. We observe temperature-dependent unsaturated LMR in both in-plane ($B \parallel I$) and out-of-plane ($B \perp I$) configurations. The magnetoresistance (MR) shows a crossover from parabolic to linear dependence at the critical field Bc, and detailed analysis indicates that disorder-driven mobility fluctuations are the origin rather than the Abrikosov quantum-limit mechanism. Furthermore, prominent PHE has been observed by rotating the magnetic field within the plane of the sample. The detailed analysis of the field and temperature dependence of PHE-amplitude, along with the parametric plot, suggests that PHE originates predominantly from the anisotropic orbital magnetoresistance rather than the chiral anomaly. Our results demonstrate that although the Dirac point is close to the Fermi level, the observed LMR and PHE in the Dirac semimetal PdTe can be understood within a semiclassical transport framework, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between topological and conventional classical transport mechanisms in topological materials