No Arabic abstract
Weyl semimetals display a novel topological phase of matter where the Weyl nodes emerge in pairs of opposite chirality and can be seen as either a source or a sink of Berry curvature. The exotic effects in Weyl semimetals, such as surface Fermi arcs and the chiral anomaly, make them a new playground for exploring novel functionalities. Further exploiting their potential applications requires clear understanding of their topological electronic properties, such as Weyl points and Fermi arcs. Here we report a Fourier transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy (FT-STS) study on a type-II Weyl semimetal candidate MoTe$_2$ whose Weyl points are predicated to be located above Fermi level. Although its electronic structure below the Fermi level have been identified by angle resolved photo emission spectroscopy (ARPES), by comparing our experimental data with first-principles calculations, we are able to identify the origins of the multiple scattering channels at energies both below and above Fermi level. Our calculations also show the existence of both trivial and topological arc like states above the Fermi energy. In the FT-STS experiments, we have observed strong signals from intra-arc scatterings as well as from the scattering between the arc-like surface states and the projected bulk states. A detailed comparison between our experimental observations and calculated results reveals the trivial and non-trivial scattering channels are difficult to distinguish in this compound. Interestingly, we find that the broken inversion symmetry changes the terminating states on the two inequivalent surfaces, which in turn changes the relative strength of the scattering channels observed in the FT-STS images on the two surfaces.
In many realistic topological materials, more than one kind of fermions contribute to the electronic bands crossing the Fermi level, leading to various novel phenomena. Here, using momentum-resolved inelastic electron scattering, we investigate the plasmons and their evolution across the phase transition in a type-II Weyl Semimetal MoTe$_2$, in which both Weyl fermions and trivial nonrelativistic fermions contribute to the Fermi surface in the Td phase. One plasmon mode in the 1T phase at high temperature and two plasmon modes in the topological T$_d$ phase at low temperature are observed. Combining with first-priciples calculations, we show that all the plasmon modes are dominated by the interband correlations between the inverted bands of MoTe$_2$. Especially in the T$_d$ phase, since the electronic bands split due to inversion symmetry breaking and spin-orbit coupling, the plasmon modes manifest the interband correlation between the topological Weyl fermions and the trivial nonrelativistic electrons. Our work emphasizes the significance of the interplay between different kinds of carriers in plasmons of topological materials.
We report a combined experimental and theoretical study of the candidate type-II Weyl semimetal MoTe2. Using laser-based angle-resolved photoemission we resolve multiple distinct Fermi arcs on the inequivalent top and bottom (001) surfaces. All surface states observed experimentally are reproduced by an electronic structure calculation for the experimental crystal structure that predicts a topological Weyl semimetal state with 8 type-II Weyl points. We further use systematic electronic structure calculations simulating different Weyl point arrangements to discuss the robustness of the identified Weyl semimetal state and the topological character of Fermi arcs in MoTe2.
We investigate the surface electronic structures of polar 1T-MoTe2, the Weyl semimetal candidate realized through the nonpolar-polar structural phase transition, by utilizing the laser angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) combined with first-principles calculations. Two kinds of domains with different surface band dispersions are observed from a single-crystalline sample. The spin-resolved measurements further reveal that the spin polarizations of the surface and the bulk-derived states show the different domain-dependences, indicating the opposite bulk polarity. For both domains, some segment-like band features resembling the Fermi arcs are clearly observed. The patterns of the arcs present the marked contrast between the two domains, respectively agreeing well with the slab calculation of (0 0 1) and (0 0 -1) surfaces. The present result strongly suggests that the Fermi arc connects the identical pair of Weyl nodes on one side of the polar crystal surface, whereas it connects between the different pairs of Weyl nodes on the other side.
Very recently, the half-metallic compound Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ was predicted to be a magnetic WSM with Weyl points only 60 meV above the Fermi level ($E_F$). Owing to the low charge carrier density and large Berry curvature induced, Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ possesses both a large anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) and a large anomalous Hall angle (AHA), which provide strong evidence for the existence of Weyl points in Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$. In this work, we theoretically studied the surface topological feature of Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ and its counterpart Co$_3$Sn$_2$Se$_2$. By cleaving the sample at the weak Sn-S/Se bonds, one can achieve two different surfaces terminated with Sn and S/Se atoms, respectively. The resulting Fermi arc related states can range from the energy of the Weyl points to $E_F$-0.1 eV in the Sn-terminated surface. Therefore, it should be possible to observe the Fermi arcs in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements. Furthermore, in order to simulate quasiparticle interference (QPI) in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements, we also calculated the joint density of states (JDOS), which revealed that the QPI patterns arising from Fermi arc related scatterings are clearly visible for both terminals. This work would be helpful for a comprehensive understanding of the topological properties of these two magnetic WSMs and further ARPES and STM measurements.
Chiral fermions in solid state feature Fermi arc states, connecting the surface projections of the bulk chiral nodes. The surface Fermi arc is a signature of nontrivial bulk topology. Unconventional chiral fermions with an extensive Fermi arc traversing the whole Brillouin zone have been theoretically proposed in CoSi. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy / spectroscopy to investigate quasiparticle interference at various terminations of a CoSi single crystal. The observed surface states exhibit chiral fermion-originated characteristics. These reside on (001) and (011) but not (111) surfaces with pi-rotation symmetry, spiral with energy, and disperse in a wide energy range from ~-200 to ~+400 mV. Owing to the high-energy and high-space resolution, a spin-orbit coupling-induced splitting of up to ~80 mV is identified. Our observations are corroborated by density functional theory and provide strong evidence that CoSi hosts the unconventional chiral fermions and the extensive Fermi arc states.