Formation of an Electron-Phonon Bifluid in Bulk Antimony

Abstract

The flow of charge and entropy in solids usually depends on collisions decaying quasiparticle momentum. Hydrodynamic corrections can emerge, however, if most collisions among quasiparticles conserve momentum and the mean-free path approaches the sample dimensions. Here, through a study of electrical and thermal transport in antimony (Sb) crystals of various sizes, we document the emergence of a two-component fluid of electrons and phonons. Lattice thermal conductivity is dominated by electron scattering down to 0.1 K and displays prominent quantum oscillations. The Dingle mobility does not vary despite an order-of-magnitude change in transport mobility. The Bloch-Grüneisen behavior of electrical resistivity is suddenly aborted below 15 K and replaced by a quadratic temperature dependence. At the Kelvin temperature range, the phonon scattering time and the electron-electron scattering time display a similar amplitude and temperature dependence. Taken together, the results draw a consistent picture of a bifluid where frequent momentum-conserving collisions between electrons and phonons dominate the transport properties.