研究了三维拓扑绝缘体到无反转对称的正常绝缘体的相变问题。与前人的结论不同，我们证明了Weyl半金属总是以中间相的形式存在，而不受晶格对称性的任何约束，尽管临界区的区间对参数空间中路径的选择很敏感，而且可能很窄.我们通过对非中心对称的拓扑绝缘体LaBiTe $_3$和LuBiTe $_3$以及平凡绝缘体BiTeI进行第一性原理计算来证明这种行为。发现在$x\!\approx\!38.5-41.9$和$x\!\approx\!40.5-45.1$的LaBi $_{1-x}$ Sb $_x$ Te $_3$和LuBi $_{1-x}$ Sb $_x$ Te $_3$固溶体中分别存在一个坚固的Weyl半金属相.一个低能有效的模型也被构造来描述这两种材料的临界行为。在BiTeI中，外尔半金属也会在压力下出现，但只在很小的压力范围内，这可以解释为什么它没有被实验观察到。
英文摘要：
We study the problem of phase transitions from 3D topological to normal insulators without inversion symmetry. In contrast with the conclusions of some previous work, we show that a Weyl semimetal always exists as an intermediate phase regardless of any constriant from lattice symmetries, although the interval of the critical region is sensitive to the choice of path in the parameter space and can be very narrow. We demonstrate this behavior by carrying out first-principles calculations on the noncentrosymmetric topological insulators LaBiTe$_3$ and LuBiTe$_3$ and the trivial insulator BiTeI. We find that a robust Weyl-semimetal phase exists in the solid solutions LaBi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$Te$_3$ and LuBi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$Te$_3$ for $x\!\approx\!38.5-41.9$\% and $x\!\approx\!40.5-45.1$\% respectively. A low-energy effective model is also constructed to describe the critical behavior in these two materials. In BiTeI, a Weyl semimetal also appears with applied pressure, but only within a very small pressure range, which may explain why it has not been experimentally observed.
The chiral anomaly may be realized in condensed matter systems with pairs of Weyl points. Here we show that the chiral anomaly can be realized in diverse noncentrosymmetric systems even without Weyl point pairs when spin-orbit coupling induces nonzero Berry curvature flux through Fermi surfaces. This motivates the condensed matter chiral anomaly to be interpreted as a Fermi surface property rather than a Weyl point property. The spin-orbit-coupling-induced anomaly reproduces the well-known charge transport properties of the chiral anomaly such as the negative longitudinal magnetoresistance and…
Even if Weyl semimetals are characterized by quasiparticles with well-defined chirality, exploiting this experimentally is severely hampered by Weyl lattice-fermions coming in pairs with opposite chirality, typically causing the net chirality picked up by experimental probes to vanish. Here we show this issue can be circumvented in a controlled manner when both time-reversal- and inversion- symmetry are broken. To this end, we investigate chirality-disbalance in the carbide family RMC$_2$ (R a rare-earth and M a transition metal), showing several members to be Weyl semimetals. Using the noncen…
Magnetic Weyl semimetals are predicted to host emergent electromagnetic fields at heterogeneous strained phases or at the magnetic domain walls. Tunability and control of the topological and magnetic properties is crucial for revealing these phenomena, which are not well understood or fully realized yet. Here, we use a scanning SQUID microscope to image spontaneous magnetization and magnetic susceptibility of CeAlSi, a noncentrosymmetric ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal candidate. We observe large metastable domains alongside stable ferromagnetic domains. The metastable domains most likely embody …
A minimal, "hydrogen atom" version of an inversion-breaking Weyl semimetal
外尔半金属的研究兴趣最近爆炸导致了许多外尔半金属候选人和一些外尔半金属在实际材料中的实验观察。通过这些经验，我们已经认识到，典型的外尔半金属拥有许多外尔点。例如，在实验中观察到的第一种外尔半金属TaAs拥有24个外尔点。类似地，Mo $_x$ W $_{1-x}$ Te $_2$系列，最近作为第一种II型外尔半金属被研究，具有八个外尔点。然而，众所周知，对于没有反转对称但具有时间反演对称的外尔半金属，外尔点的最小数量是四个。实现这样一个最小的外尔半金属是非常重要的，因为它将提供一个最简单的“氢原子“的反型破坏外尔半金属的例子。同时，在具有尽可能少的外尔点的系统中，输运实验和设备应用可能更简单。最近，TaIrTe $_4$已被预测为最小的，反转打破外尔半金属。然而，至关重要的是，外尔点和费米弧完全位于费米能级之上，这使得它们无法被传统的角度分辨光电子能谱（ARPES）所利用。在这里，我们使用泵浦-探测ARPES直接访问TaIrTe $_4$费米能级以上的能带结构。我们直接观察到Weyl点和拓扑费米弧，表明TaIrTe $_4$是Weyl半金属。我们发现，总的来说，TaIrTe $_4$有四个外尔点，提供了一个最小的反转破坏外尔半金属的第一个例子。我们的研究结果持有承诺访问外来传输现象中产生的外尔半金属在一个真正的材料。
Kramers Weyl semimetals are Weyl semimetals that have Weyl points pinned at the time reversal invariant momenta. Recently it has been discovered that all chiral crystals host Weyl points at time reversal invariant momenta, so metals with chiral lattice symmetry all belong to the category of Kramers Weyl semimetals. In this work, we show that due to the chiral lattice symmetry, Kramers Weyl semimetals have the unique longitudinal magnetoelectric effect in which the charge current induced spin and orbital magnetization is parallel to the direction of the current. This feature allows Kramers Weyl…
Magnetotransport and magneto-optics experiments offer a very powerful probe for studying the physical properties of materials. Here, we investigate the second-order nonlinear magnetoconductivity of tilted type-I Weyl and multi-Weyl semimetal. In contrast to the presence of chiral anomaly in the linear response regime, we show that Weyl semimetal do not host chiral charge pumping in the nonlinear transport regime. We predict that an inversion symmetry broken and tilted Weyl semimetal can support finite longitudinal nonlinear magnetoconductivity, which is otherwise absent in untilted Weyl semime…
We present a new switching mechanism that utilizes the proximity coupling between the surface spin texture of a Weyl semimetal and a superconductor, in a Weyl semimetal/superconductor/Weyl semimetal trilayer heterostructure. We show that the superconductivity in the middle layer can be fully suppressed by the surface spin texture of the Weyl semimetals in the presence of an external magnetic field, but it can be recovered again by only changing the field direction. The restoration of the middle-layer superconductivity indicates a sharp transition to a low-resistance state. This sharp switching…
Floquet engineering, the concept of tailoring a system by a periodic drive, is increasingly exploited to design and manipulate topological phases of matter. In this work, we study periodically driven higher-order topological Dirac semimetals associated with a $k$-dependent quantized quadrupole moment by applying circularly polarized light. The undriven Dirac semimetals feature gapless higher-order hinge Fermi arc states which are the consequence of the higher-order topology of the Dirac nodes. Floquet Weyl semimetal phases with hybrid-order topology, characterized by both a $k$-dependent quant…
We investigate the tunneling of the quasiparticles arising in multi-Weyl semimetals through a barrier consisting of both electrostatic and vector potentials, existing uniformly in a finite region along the transmission axis. The dispersion of a multi-Weyl semimetal is linear in one direction (say, $k_z$), and proportional to $k_\perp^J$ in the plane perpendicular to it (where $k_\perp =\sqrt{k_x^2+k_y^2}$). Hence, we study the cases when the barrier is perpendicular to $k_z$ and $k_x$, respectively. For comparison, we also state the corresponding results for the Weyl semimetal.
Topological magnetotorsional effect in Weyl semimetals
在这项工作中，我们介绍了热磁扭效应（TME）作为一种新的拓扑响应在磁性Weyl半金属。我们预测，垂直于外尔节点分离的磁化梯度引起的温度梯度仅取决于外尔节点的局部位置。TME是磁化诱导的有效扭转时空几何和有限温度Nieh-Yan异常的结果。与反常霍尔效应和手征反常类似，TME具有普遍的与材料无关的形式。我们预测在磁性Weyl半金属EuCd $_2$ As $_2$中可以观察到TME。
We study the current-induced torques in asymmetric magnetic tunnel junctions containing a conventional ferromagnet and a magnetic Weyl semimetal contact. The Weyl semimetal hosts chiral bulk states and topologically protected Fermi arc surface states which were found to govern the voltage behavior and efficiency of current-induced torques. We report how bulk chirality dictates the sign of the non-equilibrium torques acting on the ferromagnet and discuss the existence of large field-like torques acting on the magnetic Weyl semimetal which exceeds the theoretical maximum of conventional magnetic…
We demonstrate that in Weyl semimetals, the momentum-space helical spin texture can couple to the chirality of the Weyl node to generate a frequency-independent magnetization in response to circularly polarized light through the inverse Faraday effect. This frequency-independence is rooted in the topology of the Weyl node. Since the helicity and the chirality are always locked for Weyl nodes, this effect is not subject to any symmetry constraint. Finally, we show that the photoinduced frequency-independent magnetization is robust against lattice effect and has a magnitude large enough to reali…
