Evolution of the Fermi surface of Weyl semimetals in the transition metal pnictide family
作者:Z. K. Liu、L. X. Yang、Y. Sun、T. Zhang、H. Peng、H. F. Yang、C. Chen、Y. Zhang、Y. F. Guo、D. Prabhakaran、M. Schmidt、Z. Hussain、S.-K. Mo、C. Felser、B. Yan、Y. L. Chen
DOI:10.1038/nmat4457
日期:2016.1
Band structures with Fermi arcs characteristic of Weyl semimetals are observed on NbP and TaP. By studying NbP, TaP and TaAs, the evolution of the Fermi surface with the spinâorbit coupling is reported. Topological Weyl semimetals (TWSs) represent a novel state of topological quantum matter1,2,3,4 which not only possesses Weyl fermions (massless chiral particles that can be viewed as magnetic monopoles in momentum space) in the bulk and unique Fermi arcs generated by topological surface states, but also exhibits appealing physical properties such as extremely large magnetoresistance and ultra-high carrier mobility5,6,7,8. Here, by performing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on NbP and TaP, we directly observed their band structures with characteristic Fermi arcs of TWSs. Furthermore, by systematically investigating NbP, TaP and TaAs from the same transition metal monopnictide family, we discovered their Fermiology evolution with spinâorbit coupling (SOC) strength. Our experimental findings not only reveal the mechanism to realize and fine-tune the electronic structures of TWSs, but also provide a rich material base for exploring many exotic physical phenomena (for example, chiral magnetic effects, negative magnetoresistance, and the quantum anomalous Hall effect) and novel future applications3,4,9,10,11.
在NbP和TaP上观察到了具有费米弧特征的韦尔半金属的带结构。通过研究NbP、TaP和TaAs,报告了费米面与自旋-轨道耦合的演变。拓扑韦尔半金属(TWS)是一种拓扑量子物质的新状态1,2,3,4,它不仅具有韦尔费米子(无质量的奇点粒子,在动量空间中可以看作是磁单极子)和由拓扑表面态产生的独特的费米弧,而且还表现出极具吸引力的物理性质,如极大的磁阻和超高的载流子迁移率5,6,7,8。在这里,通过对NbP和TaP进行角分辨光电子能谱(ARPES),我们直接观察到了它们具有TWS特征费米弧的带结构。此外,通过对同一过渡金属单氮化物家族的NbP、TaP和TaAs进行系统研究,我们发现了它们与自旋-轨道耦合(SOC)强度的费米学演化。我们的实验结果不仅揭示了实现和微调TWS电子结构的机制,而且还为探索许多奇特的物理现象(例如,奇点磁性效应、负磁阻和量子反常霍尔效应)和未来新的应用提供了丰富的材料基础3,4,9,10,11。