Electron-phonon interaction and zero-field charge carrier transport in the nodal-line semimetal ZrSiS

We study electron-phonon interaction and related transport properties of nodal-line semimetal ZrSiS using first-principles calculations. We find that ZrSiS is characterized by a weak electron-phonon coupling on the order of 0.1, which is almost energy independent. The main contribution to the electron-phonon coupling originates from long-wavelength optical phonons, causing no significant renormalization of the electron spectral function. At the charge neutrality point, we find that electrons and holes provide a comparable contribution to the scattering rate. The phonon-limited resistivity calculated within the Boltzmann transport theory is found to be strongly direction-dependent with the ratio between out-of-plane and in-plane directions being rho(zz)/rho(xx) similar to 7.5, mainly determined by the anisotropy of carrier velocities. We estimate zero-field resistivity to be rho(xx) approximate to 12 mu Omega cm at 300 K, which is in good agreement with experimental data. Relatively small resistivity in ZrSiS can be attributed to a combination of weak electron-phonon coupling and high carrier velocities.