Distinct Evolutions of Weyl Fermion Quasiparticles and Fermi Arcs with Bulk Band Topology in Weyl Semimetals.
- Xu N Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Autès G Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Matt CE Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Lv BQ Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Yao MY Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Bisti F Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Strocov VN Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Gawryluk D Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
- Pomjakushina E Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
- Conder K Laboratory for Developments and Methods, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
- Plumb NC Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Radovic M Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Qian T Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
- Yazyev OV Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Mesot J Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- Ding H Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
- Shi M Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
- 2017-03-25
Published in:
- Physical review letters. - 2017
English
The Weyl semimetal phase is a recently discovered topological quantum state of matter characterized by the presence of topologically protected degeneracies near the Fermi level. These degeneracies are the source of exotic phenomena, including the realization of chiral Weyl fermions as quasiparticles in the bulk and the formation of Fermi arc states on the surfaces. Here, we demonstrate that these two key signatures show distinct evolutions with the bulk band topology by performing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, supported by first-principles calculations, on transition-metal monophosphides. While Weyl fermion quasiparticles exist only when the chemical potential is located between two saddle points of the Weyl cone features, the Fermi arc states extend in a larger energy scale and are robust across the bulk Lifshitz transitions associated with the recombination of two nontrivial Fermi surfaces enclosing one Weyl point into a single trivial Fermi surface enclosing two Weyl points of opposite chirality. Therefore, in some systems (e.g., NbP), topological Fermi arc states are preserved even if Weyl fermion quasiparticles are absent in the bulk. Our findings not only provide insight into the relationship between the exotic physical phenomena and the intrinsic bulk band topology in Weyl semimetals, but also resolve the apparent puzzle of the different magnetotransport properties observed in TaAs, TaP, and NbP, where the Fermi arc states are similar.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- green
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.106406
- PMID 28339253
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/278421
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