We performed the angle dependent magnetoresistance (MR), Hall effect measurements, the temperature dependent magneto-thermoelectric power (TEP) S(T) measurements, and the first-principles calculations to study the electronic properties of orthorhombic phase MoTe2 (Td-MoTe2), which was proposed to be electronically two-dimensional (2D). There are some interesting findings about Td-MoTe2: (1) A scaling approach εθ=(sin2θ+γ-2cos2θ)1/2 is applied, where θ is the magnetic field angle with respect to the c axis of the crystal and γ is the mass anisotropy. Unexpectedly, the electronically 3D character with γ as low as 1.9 is observed in Td-MoTe2; (2) The possible Lifshitz transition and the following electronic structure change can be verified around T~150 K and T~60 K, which is supported by the evidence of the slop changing of the temperature dependence of TEP, the carrier density extracted from Hall resistivity and the onset temperature of γ obtained from the MR measurements. The extremely large MR effect in Td-MoTe2 could originate from the combination of the electron-hole compensation and a particular orbital texture on the electron pocket, which is supported by the calculations of electronic structure. Our results may provide a general scaling relation for the anisotropic MR and help to recognize the origins of the MR effect in other systems, such as the Weyl semimetals and the Dirac ones.
SrIrO3, the three-dimensional member of the Ruddlesden-Popper iridates, is a paramagnetic semimetal characterised by a the delicate interplay between spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb repulsion. In this work, we study the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) of SrIrO3 thin films, which is closely linked to spin-orbit coupling and probes correlations between electronic transport, magnetic order and orbital states. We show that the low-temperature negative magnetoresistance is anisotropic with respect to the magnetic field orientation, and its angular dependence reveals the appearance of a fourfold…
Extremely large positive magnetoresistance (XMR) was found in a nonmagnetic semimetal InBi. Using several single crystals with different residual resistivity ratios (RRRs), we revealed that the XMR strongly depended on the RRR (sample quality). Assuming that there were no changes in effective mass m* and carrier concentrations in these single crystals, this dependence was explained by a semiclassical two-carrier model. First-principle calculations including the spin-orbit interactions (SOI) unveiled that InBi had a compensated carrier balance and SOI-induced "hidden" three-dimensional (3D) Dir…
The discovery of non-magnetic extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) materials has induced great interests because the XMR phenomenon challenges our understanding of how a magnetic field can alter electron transport in semimetals. Among XMR materials, the LaSb shows XMR and field-induced exotic behaviors but it seems to lack the essentials for these properties. Here, we study the magnetotransport properties and electronic structure of LaBi, isostructural to LaSb. LaBi exhibits large MR as in LaSb, which can be ascribed to the nearly compensated electron and hole with rather high mobilities. More impo…
Motivated by the proposal of a Weyl-semimetal phase in pyrochlore iridates, we consider a Hubbard-type model on the pyrochlore lattice. To shed light on the question as to why such a state has not been observed experimentally, its robustness is analyzed. On the one hand, we study the possible phases when the system is doped. Magnetic frustration favors several phases with magnetic and charge order that do not occur at half filling, including additional Weyl-semimetal states close to quarter filling. On the other hand, we search for density waves that break translational symmetry and destroy th…
Topological materials with extremely large magnetoresistance exhibit a prognostic feature of resistivity turn-on behaviour. This occurs when the temperature dependence of resistivity changes from metallic to semiconducting characteristics on application of external magnetic field above a threshold value. Here, we study the magneto-transport properties of type-II Weyl Semimetal WP2. We find that semi-classical theories of magnetoresistance are consistent with our data without the need to invoke topological surface states. Our findings in this work provides an alternative basis to understand the…
Recent experiments on type-II Weyl semimetals such as WTe$_2$, MoTe$_2$, Mo$_x$W$_{1-x}$Te$_2$ and WP$_2$ reveal remarkable transport properties in presence of a strong magnetic field, including an extremely large magnetoresistance and an unusual temperature dependence. Here, we investigate magnetotransport via the Kubo formula in a minimal model of a type-II Weyl semimetal taking into account the effect of a charge density wave (CDW) transition, which can arise even at weak coupling in the presence of a strong magnetic field because of the special Landau level dispersion of type-II Weyl syste…
We systematically measured the Hall effect in the extremely large magnetoresistance semimetal WTe$_2$. By carefully fitting the Hall resistivity to a two-band model, the temperature dependencies of the carrier density and mobility for both electron- and hole-type carriers were determined. We observed a sudden increase of the hole density below $\sim$160~K, which is likely associated with the temperature-induced Lifshitz transition reported by a previous photoemission study. In addition, a more pronounced reduction in electron density occurs below 50~K, giving rise to comparable electron and ho…
The transverse and longitudinal magnetoresistance (MR) of two samples of the topological chiral semimetal CoSi with different RRR was studied. It is shown that the Kohler rule works for the transverse MR. The Kohler rule is also fulfilled in the case of longitudinal MR at a low reduced magnetic field. A sharp deviation of longitudinal MR curve for sample with low RRR from the Kohler prediction at high fields reveals its tendency to a sign change at higher magnetic fields. The Shubnikov de Haas quantum oscillations were observed and analyzed in both perpendicular and parallel configurations of …
We study dynamical mass generation and the resultant helical spin orders in topological Dirac and Weyl semimetals, including the edge states of quantum spin Hall insulators, the surface states of weak topological insulators, and the bulk materials of Weyl semimetals. In particular, the helical spin textures of Weyl semimetals manifest the spin-momentum locking of Weyl fermions in a visible manner. The spin-wave fluctuations of the helical order carry electric charge density; therefore, the spin textures can be electrically controlled in a simple and predictable manner.
Weyl semimetals have been classified into type-I and type-II with respect to the geometry of their Fermi surfaces at the Weyl points. Here, we propose a new class of Weyl semimetal, whose unique Fermi surface contains two electron or two hole pockets touching at a multi-Weyl point, dubbed as type-III Weyl semimetal. Based on first-principles calculations, we first show that quasi-one-dimensional compound (TaSe4)2I is a type-III Weyl semimetal with larger chiral charges. (TaSe4)2I can support four-fold helicoidal surface states with remarkably long Fermi arcs on the (001) surface. Angle-resolve…
A large negative magnetoresistance is anticipated in topological semimetals in the parallel magnetic and electric field configuration as a consequence of the nontrivial topological properties. The negative magnetoresistance is believed to demonstrate the chiral anomaly, a long-sought high-energy physics effect, in solid-state systems. Recent experiments reveal that Cd3As2, a Dirac topological semimetal, has the record-high mobility and exhibits positive linear magnetoresistance in the orthogonal magnetic and electric field configuration. However, the negative magnetoresistance in the parallel …
We performed a series of high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and resistance measurements on the Weyl semimetal NbAs. The crystal structure remains stable up to 26 GPa according to the powder XRD data. The resistance of NbAs single crystal increases monotonically with pressure at low temperature. Up to 20 GPa, no superconducting transition is observed down to 0.3 K. These results show that the Weyl semimetal phase is robust in NbAs, and applying pressure is not a good way to get a topological superconductor from a Weyl semimetal.
We introduce a simple model to describe the formation of heavy Weyl semimetals in non-centrosymmetric heavy fermion compounds under the influence of a parity-mixing, onsite hybridization. A key aspect of interaction-driven heavy Weyl semimetals is the development of surface Kondo breakdown, which is expected to give rise to a temperature-dependent re-configuration of the Fermi arcs and the Weyl cyclotron orbits which connect them via the chiral bulk states. Our theory predicts a strong temperature dependent transformation in the quantum oscillations at low temperatures. In addition to the effe…
Incommensurate magnetic order drives singular angular magnetoresistance in a Weyl semimetal
Boston College（波士顿学院）；NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院中子研究中心）；Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（塔塔基础研究所）；University of California, Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center（国家同步辐射研究中心）；ISIS neutron and muon source, STFC, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory（STFC卢瑟福阿普尔顿实验室ISIS中子和缪子源）；J-PARC Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency（日本原子能机构J-PARC中心）；University of Tsukuba（筑波大学）
We present a theory of thermoelectric transport in weakly disordered Weyl semimetals where the electron-electron scattering time is faster than the electron-impurity scattering time. Our hydrodynamic theory consists of relativistic fluids at each Weyl node, coupled together by perturbatively small inter-valley scattering, and long-range Coulomb interactions. The conductivity matrix of our theory is Onsager reciprocal and positive-semidefinite. In addition to the usual axial anomaly, we account for the effects of a distinct, axial-gravitational anomaly expected to be present in Weyl semimetals.…
We report the effect of Dirac cone tilting on interlayer magnetoresistance in α-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$I$_3$, which is a Dirac semimetal under pressure. Fitting of the experimental data by the theoretical formula suggests that the system is close to a type-II Dirac semimetal.
Weyl semimetals and nodal line semimetals are characterized by linear band touching at zero-dimensional points and one-dimensional lines, respectively. We predict that a circularly polarized light drives nodal line semimetals into Weyl semimetals. The Floquet Weyl points thus obtained are tunable by the incident light, which enables investigations of them in a highly controllable manner. The transition from nodal line semimetals to Weyl semimetals is accompanied by the emergence of a large and tunable anomalous Hall conductivity. Our predictions are experimentally testable by transport measure…
Heavy fermion semimetals represent a promising setting to explore topological metals driven by strong correlations. In this paper, we i) summarize the theoretical results in a Weyl-Kondo semimetal phase for a strongly correlated model with inversion-symmetry-breaking and time-reversal invariance, and the concurrent work that has experimentally discovered this phase in the non-magnetic non-centrosymmetric heavy fermion system Ce$_3$Bi$_4$Pd$_3$; and ii) describe what is expected theoretically when the time-reversal symmetry is also broken.
Weyl semimetal with Weyl fermions at Fermi energy is one of the topological materials, and is a condensed-matter realization of the relativistic fermions. However, there are several crucial differences such as the shift of Fermi energy, which can hinder the expected interesting physics. Chiral anomaly is a representative nontrivial phenomenon associated with Weyl fermions, which dictates the transfer of fermions between the Weyl fermions with opposite chirality; it is manifested as the negative magnetoresistance. Here we demonstrate that the magnetoresistance is robust against the deviation fr…
The rapidly expanding class of quantum materials known as {\emph{topological semimetals}} (TSM) display unique transport properties, including a striking dependence of resistivity on applied magnetic field, that are of great interest for both scientific and technological reasons. However, experimental signatures that can identify or discern the dominant mechanism and connect to available theories are scarce. Here we present the magnetic susceptibility ($χ$), the tangent of the Hall angle ($\tanθ_H$) along with magnetoresistance in four different non-magnetic semimetals with high mobilities, Nb…
Dirac semimetals and Weyl semimetals are 3D analogs of graphene in which crystalline symmetry protects the nodes against gap formation [1-3]. Na$_3$Bi and Cd$_3$As$_2$ were predicted to be Dirac semimetals [4,5], and recently confirmed to be so by photoemission [6-8]. Several novel transport properties in a magnetic field $\bf H$ have been proposed for Dirac semimetals [2,9-11]. Here we report an interesting property in Cd$_3$As$_2$ that was unpredicted, namely a remarkable protection mechanism that strongly suppresses back-scattering in zero $\bf H$. In single crystals, the protection results…
Type II Weyl semimetal, a three dimensional gapless topological phase, has drawn enormous interest recently. These topological semimetals enjoy overtilted dispersion and Weyl nodes that separate the particle and hole pocket. Using perturbation renormalization group, we identify possible renormalization of the interaction vertices, which show a tendency toward instability. We further adopt a self-consistent mean-field approach to study possible instability of the type II Weyl semimetals under short-range electron-electron interaction. It is found that the instabilities are much easier to form i…
We present a theory of charge density wave (CDW) states in Weyl semimetals and their interplay with the chiral anomaly. In particular, we demonstrate a special nature of the shortest-period CDW state, which is obtained when the separation between the Weyl nodes equals exactly half a primitive reciprocal lattice vector. Its topological properties are shown to be distinct from all other Weyl CDW states. We make a connection between this observation and the three-dimensional fractional quantum Hall state, which was recently proposed to exist in magnetic Weyl semimetals.
Weyl semimetals are one kind of three-dimensional gapless semimetal with nontrivial topology in the momentum space. The chiral anomaly in Weyl semimetals manifests as a charge imbalance between the Weyl nodes of opposite chiralities induced by parallel electric and magnetic fields. We investigate the chiral anomaly effect on the plasmon mode in both intrinsic and doped Weyl semimetals within the random phase approximation. We prove that the chiral anomaly gives rise to a different plasmon mode in intrinsic Weyl semimetals. We also find the chiral anomaly leads to some exotic properties in the …
Weyl semimetals are phases of matter with excitations effectively described by massless Dirac fermions. Their critical nature makes unclear the persistence of such phase in presence of disorder. We present a theorem ensuring the stability of the semimetallic phase in presence of weak quasiperiodic disorder. The proof relies on the subtle interplay of the relativistic Quantum Field Theory description combined with number theoretical properties used in KAM theory.
Weyl semimetals, featuring massless linearly dispersing chiral fermions in three dimensions, provide an excellent platform for studying the interplay of electronic interactions and topology, and exploring new correlated states of matter. Here, we examine the effect of a local repulsive interaction on an inversion-symmetry breaking Weyl semimetal model, using cluster dynamical mean field theory and variational cluster approximation methods. Our analysis reveals a continuous transition from the gapless Weyl semimetal phase to a gapped spin density wave ordered phase at a critical value of the in…
The resistance of a metal in a magnetic field can be very illuminating about its ground state. Some famous examples include the integer and fractional quantum Hall effects\cite{Klitzing-QHE,Tsui-FQHE}, Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations\cite{SdH}, and weak localization\cite{Lee-WL} \emph{et al}. In non-interacting metals the resistance typically increases upon the application of a magnetic field\cite{Pippard-MR}. In contrast, in some special circumstances metals, with anisotropic Fermi surfaces\cite{Kikugawa-PdCoO2LMR} or a so-called Weyl semimetal for instance\cite{Nielsen-ABJ,Son-ChirAnom}, may …
It is shown that the Weyl semimetal TaAs can have a significant polar vector contribution to its optical activity. This is quantified by ab initio calculations of the resonant x-ray diffraction at the Ta L1 edge. For the Bragg vector (400), this polar vector contribution to the circular intensity differential between left and right polarized x-rays is predicted to be comparable to that arising from linear dichroism. Implications this result has in regards to optical effects predicted for topological Weyl semimetals are discussed.
The interplay of electronic band structures and electron-electron interactions is known to brew new phases in condensed matter. In this paper, we investigate thermodynamic phases and corresponding electronic structures of the Weyl semimetal in the strong onsite Coulomb interaction limit. Based on a minimum model of the Weyl semimetal with two linear Weyl nodes, it is shown that generically the Weyl semimetal becomes magnetic in the presence of interactions. In particular, it is shown that the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction is generally induced so that the A-type antiferromagnetic (…
Two-component conductors -- e.g., semi-metals and narrow band semiconductors -- often exhibit unusually strong magnetoresistance in a wide temperature range. Suppression of the Hall voltage near charge neutrality in such systems gives rise to a strong quasiparticle drift in the direction perpendicular to the electric current and magnetic field. This drift is responsible for a strong geometrical increase of resistance even in weak magnetic fields. Combining the Boltzmann kinetic equation with sample electrostatics, we develop a microscopic theory of magnetotransport in two and three spatial dim…
Weyl semimetals are a new class of Dirac material that posses bulk energy nodes in three dimensions. In this paper, we study a Weyl semimetal subject to an applied magnetic field. We derive expressions for the density of states, electronic specific heat, and the quantum oscillations of the magnetization, DC conductivity, and thermal conductivity. We find phase shifts in the quantum oscillations that distinguish the Weyl semimetal from conventional three dimensional Schrödinger Fermions.
Weyl points with monopole charge $\pm 1$ have been extensively studied, however, real materials of multi-Weyl points, whose monopole charges are higher than $1$, have yet to be found. In this Rapid Communication, we show that nodal-line semimetals with nontrivial line connectivity provide natural platforms for realizing Floquet multi-Weyl points. In particular, we show that driving crossing nodal lines by circularly polarized light generates double-Weyl points. Furthermore, we show that monopole combination and annihilation can be observed in crossing-nodal-line semimetals and nodal-chain semi…
We study a holographic model which exhibits a quantum phase transition from the strongly interacting Weyl semimetal phase to an insulating phase. In the holographic insulating phase there is a hard gap in the real part of frequency dependent diagonal conductivities. However, the anomalous Hall conductivity is nonzero at zero frequency, indicting that it is a Chern insulator. This holographic quantum phase transition is always of first order, signified by a discontinuous anomalous Hall conductivity at the phase transition, in contrast to the very continuous holographic Weyl semimetal/trivial se…
We discuss the possibility of realizing Weyl semimetal phase in the magnetically doped topological band insulators. When the magnetic moments are ferromagnetically polarized, we show that there are three phases in the system upon the competition between topological mass and magnetic mass: topological band insulator phase, Weyl semimetal phase, and trivial phase. We explicitly derive the low energy theory of Weyl points from the general continuum Hamiltonian of topological insulators near the Dirac point, e.g. ${\bf k} \cdot {\bf p}$ theory near $Γ$ point for Bi_{2}Se_{3}. Furthermore, we intro…
We study the stability of three-dimensional incompressible Weyl semimetals in the presence of random quenched charge impurities. Combining numerical analysis and scaling theory we show that in the presence of sufficiently weak randomness (i) Weyl semimetal remains stable, while (ii) double-Weyl semimetal gives rise to compressible diffusive metal where the mean density of states at zero energy is finite. At stronger disorder, Weyl semimetal undergoes a quantum phase transition and enter into a metallic phase. Mean density of states at zero energy serves as the order parameter and displays sing…
We study the effects of momentum relaxation on the holographic Weyl semimetal which exhibits a topological quantum phase transition between the Weyl semimetal phase and a topological trivial phase. The conservation of momentum in the field theory is broken by the axion fields in holography. The topological Weyl semimetal phase is characterized by a nontrivial anomalous Hall conductivity. We find that the critical value of the phase transition decreases when we increase the momentum relaxation strength up to a special value, above which it goes to zero. This indicates that the Weyl semimetal ph…
We show that hybrid Dirac and Weyl semimetals can be realized in a three-dimensional Luttinger semimetal with quadratic band touching (QBT). We illustrate this using periodic kicking scheme. In particular, we focus on a momentum-dependent drivings (nonuniform driving) and demonstrate the realization of various hybrid Dirac and Weyl semimetals. We identify a unique hybrid dispersion Dirac semimetal with two nodes, where one of the nodes is linear while the other is dispersed quadraticlly. Next, we show that by tilting QBT via periodic driving and in the presence of an external magnetic field, o…
We propose to realize Weyl semimetals in a cubic optical lattice. We find that there exist three distinct Weyl semimetal phases in the cubic optical lattice for different parameter ranges. One of them has two pairs of Weyl points and the other two have one pair of Weyl points in the Brillouin zone. For a slab geometry with (010) surfaces, the Fermi arcs connecting the projections of Weyl points with opposite topological charges on the surface Brillouin zone is presented. By adjusting the parameters, the Weyl points can move in the Brillouin zone. Interestingly, for two pairs of Weyl points, as…
Taking into account the interplay between the disorder and Coulomb interaction, the phase diagram of three-dimensional anisotropic Weyl semimetal is studied by renormalization group theory. Weak disorder is irrelevant in anisotropic Weyl semimetal, while the disorder becomes relevant and drives a quantum phase transition from semimetal to compressible diffusive metal phases if the disorder strength is larger than a critical value. The long-range Coulomb interaction is irrelevant in clean anisotropic Weyl semimetal. However, interestingly, we find that the long-range Coulomb interaction exerts …
We consider theoretically surface plasmon polaritons in Weyl semimetals. These materials contain pairs of band touching points - Weyl nodes - with a chiral topological charge, which induces an optical anisotropy and anomalous transport through the chiral anomaly. We show that these effects, which are not present in ordinary metals, have a direct fundamental manifestation in the surface plasmon dispersion. The retarded Weyl surface plasmon dispersion depends on the separation of the Weyl nodes in energy and momentum space. For Weyl semimetals with broken time-reversal symmetry, the distance bet…
We theoretically propose that giant magnetochiral anisotropy is achieved in Weyl semimetals in noncentrosymmetric crystals as a consequence of the chiral anomaly. The magnetochiral anisotropy is the nonlinearity of the resistivity $ρ$ that depends on the current $\boldsymbol{I}$ and the magnetic field $\boldsymbol{B}$ as $ρ=ρ_0 (1 + γ\boldsymbol{I} \cdot \boldsymbol{B})$, and can be applied to rectifier devices controlled by $\boldsymbol{B}$. We derive the formula for the coefficient $γ$ in noncentrosymmetric Weyl semimetals. The obtained formula for $γ$ shows that the magnetochiral anisotropy…
We study the AC electrical conductivity at zero temperature in a holographic model for a Weyl semimetal. At small frequencies we observe a linear dependence in the frequency. The model shows a quantum phase transition between a topological semimetal (Weyl semimetal phase) with a non vanishing anomalous Hall conductivity and a trivial semimetal. The AC conductivity has an intermediate scaling due to the presence of a quantum critical region in the phase diagram of the system. The phase diagram is reconstructed using the scaling properties of the conductivity. We compare with the experimental da…
It is generally believed that non-Hermiticity can transform Weyl semimetals into Weyl-exceptional-ring semimetals. However, this belief is from the systems without skin effect. We investigate the non-Hermitian Weyl semimental and its Floquet engineering in a system with skin effect, which breaks the bulk-boundary correspondence in its Hermitian counterpart. It is found in both the static and periodically driven cases that the skin effect makes this general belief no longer valid. We discover that exotic non-Hermitian topological matters, e.g., a composite phase of Weyl semimetal and topologica…
Classification of topological insulators and superconductors is manifested in terms of spin cobordism groups for lower dimensions. It is discussed that the periodic table of topological insulators is a result of the possible choices of spin structures on Brillouin zones of relevant topological materials. This framework is extended to the case of Weyl semimetals. It is shown that the classification of Weyl semimetals can be managed in terms of spin$^c$ cobordism groups via the extension of spin structures to spin$^c$ structures. Topological invariants of Weyl semimetals are connected to the top…
We demonstrate that the physical reason for the nontrivial topological properties of Dirac semimetals $A_3 Bi$ (A=Na,K,Rb) is connected with a discrete symmetry of the low-energy effective Hamiltonian. By making use of this discrete symmetry, we argue that all electron states can be split into two separate sectors of the theory. Each sector describes a Weyl semimetal with a pair of Weyl nodes and broken time-reversal symmetry. The latter symmetry is not broken in the complete theory because the time-reversal transformation interchanges states from different sectors. Our findings are supported …
We study the interaction between elliptically polarized light and a three-dimensional Luttinger semimetal with quadratic band touching using Floquet theory. In the absence of light, the touching bands can have the same or the opposite signs of the curvature; in each case, we show that simply tuning the light parameters allows us to create a zoo of Weyl semimetallic phases. In particular, we find that double and single Weyl points can coexist at different energies, and they can be tuned to be type I or type II. We also find an unusual phase transition, in which a pair of Weyl nodes form at fini…
Disorder in Weyl semimetals and superconductors is surprisingly subtle, attracting attention and competing theories in recent years. In this brief review, we discuss the current theoretical understanding of the effects of short-ranged, quenched disorder on the low energy-properties of three-dimensional, topological Weyl semimetals and superconductors. We focus on the role of non-perturbative rare region effects on destabilizing the semimetal phase and rounding the expected semimetal-to-diffusive metal transition into a cross over. Furthermore, the consequences of disorder on the resulting natu…
