Infrared reflectance of single crystal bismuth in high magnetic fields: strongly correlated physics in the extreme quantum limit

Infrared reflectance spectra of single crystal bismuth have been measured in magnetic fields as high as 18 T, both parallel and perpendicular to the trigonal axis. Low-field scans with small field steps have produced detailed frequency-field maps of the rich Landau-level transition spectrum. At high fields we observe a dramatic reconstruction of the far-infrared response as quantum confinement effects become dominant. We will discuss these results in the larger context of understanding the quantum-limit physics of strongly interacting electrons in a three-dimensional system.