Electron Momentum Density in the Low-Dimensional Layered System ZrTe₃

Abstract

The electron momentum densities of the layered transition metal trichalcogenide ZrTe₃ have been studied by high-resolution Compton profiles (CPs) along the a^*, b^*, and c^* directions, together with the theoretical CPs calculated using the local-density approximation based full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method. A fairly good accord between theory and experiment is found with respect to the overall shapes of the CPs and the anisotropies in the CPs defined as differences between pairs of various CPs. The observed anisotropy between b^* and c^* directions is much smaller compared with the others, in agreement with the theoretical result. It is shown that the Fermi surface geometry plays an effective role to reproduce the anisotropies. The characteristics of the Fermi surfces and bonding conditions in the ZrTe₃ are examined, and insights of the features in the CPs are gained.