It is well known that on the surface of Weyl semimetals, Fermi arcs appear as the topologically protected surface states. In this work, we give a semiclassical explanation for the morphology of the surface Fermi arcs. Viewing the surface states as a two-dimensional Fermi gas subject to band bending and Berry curvatures, we show that it is the non-parallelism between the velocity and the momentum that gives rise to the spiraling Fermi arcs. We map out the Fermi arcs from the velocity field for a single Weyl point and a lattice with two Weyl points. We also investigate the surface magnetoplasma of Dirac semimetals in a magnetic field. In this case, the surface states obtains chiral nature from both drift motion and the chiral magnetic effect, resulting in Fermi arcs. We also discuss the important role played by the Imbert-Fedorov shift in the formation of surface Fermi arcs.
Download