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Topological semimetals represent a novel class of quantum materials displaying non‐trivial topological states that host Dirac/Weyl fermions. The intersection of Dirac/Weyl points gives rise to essential properties in a wide range of innovative transport phenomena, including extreme magnetoresistance, high mobilities, weak antilocalization, electron hydrodynamics, and various electro‐optical phenomena. In this study, the electronic, transport, phonon scattering, and interrelationships are explored in single crystals of the topological semimetal HfAs2. It reveals a weak antilocalization effect at low temperatures with high carrier density, which is attributed to perfectly compensated topological bulk and surface states. The angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) results show anisotropic Fermi surfaces and surface states indicative of the topological semimetal, further confirmed by first‐principle density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Moreover, the lattice dynamics in HfAs2 are investigated both with the Raman scattering and density functional theory. The phonon dispersion, density of states, lattice thermal conductivity, and the phonon lifetimes are computed to support the experimental findings. The softening of phonons, the broadening of Raman modes, and the reduction of phonon lifetimes with temperature suggest the enhancement of phonon anharmonicity in this new topological material, which is crucial for boosting the thermoelectric performance of topological semimetals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-rare-earth-based RAlSi family serves as an exceptional platform for elucidating the unique properties of Weyl systems, featuring both types of Weyl fermions, with and without magnetism. In this investigation, we conducted a comparative analysis of the resistivity and magnetoresistance (MR) behaviors of single-crystal RAlSi (R = La, Ce, and Pr). A hump appears in the temperature-dependent resistivity curve of CeAlSi, attributed to the crystal-electric-field effect and showing insensitivity to the magnetic field. In nonmagnetic LaAlSi, a quasilinear MR response above the crossover field is linked to mobility fluctuations originating from slight inhomogeneity. Upon heating CeAlSi from 2 K to its critical temperature for ferromagnetic (FM) ordering (TC), a field-induced contraction in the twin Fermi surfaces was observed, likely contributing to negative MR peaks at TC. The robustness of Weyl nodes in FM RAlSi is demonstrated by the inherent broken space inversion symmetry, allowing them to change positions via violation of time-reversal symmetry. Our findings suggest the potential for magnetic modulation of the electronic structure in FM RAlSi, leading not only to shifts in Weyl nodes but also alterations in the Fermi surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of various topological semimetal states presents a novel opportunity for enhancing the efficiency of thermoelectric transport. This study introduces a recipe to improve the thermoelectric (TE) performance in topological materials containing single‐pair Weyl points (SP WPs) fermions and phonons. The recipe focuses on two key factors contributing to the enhancement of TE performance: the increase in the density of states to achieve a high power factor, and the introduction of additional phonon scattering to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. The proposed recipe is confirmed in a half‐metallic SP WPs material BaNiIO6 through first‐principles methods. An enhanced density of states arises near the energy of the SP WPs in BaNiIO6, leading to a peak power factor connected to the complex Fermi surface due to the degeneracy of Weyl pockets in energy. Furthermore, it is shown that the SP WPs phonons in BaNiIO6 possess a high scattering rate and can likely contribute to the low lattice thermal conductivity, especially when two crossing points in SP WPs do not degenerate in frequency. The new recipe can be used for discovering high‐performance thermoelectric materials in the future by utilizing the transport advantages of degenerate‐in‐energy SP WPs fermions and non‐degenerate‐in‐frequency SP WPs phonons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermal chiral anomaly is a new mechanism for thermal transport that occurs in Weyl semimetals (WSMs). It is attributed to the generation and annihilation of energy at Weyl points of opposite chirality. The effect was observed in the Bi1−xSbx alloy system, at x = 11% and 15%, which are topological insulators at zero field and driven into an ideal WSM phase by an external field. Given that the experimental uncertainty on x is of the order of 1%, any systematic study of the effect over a wider range of x requires precise knowledge of the transition composition xc at which the electronic bands at the L-point in these alloys have Dirac-like dispersions. At x > xc, the L-point bands are inverted and become topologically non-trivial. In the presence of a magnetic field along the trigonal direction, these alloys become WSMs. This paper describes how the temperature dependence of the frequency of the Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations F(x,T) at temperatures of the order of the cyclotron energy can be used to find xc and characterize the topology of the electronic Fermi surface. Semimetallic Bi1−xSbx alloys with topologically trivial bands have dF(x,T)/dT ≥ 0; those with Dirac/Weyl fermions display dF(x,T)/dT < 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically investigate the magnetotransport properties in magnetic junctions based on tilted Weyl semimetals and concentrate on the manifestations of the tilted effect in the differential conductance. Since the projection of the Fermi surface normal to the current direction can be enlarged by the tilted effect, the differential conductance is enhanced by increasing the tilting parameter. Moreover, due to the helical textures of Weyl fermions, the enhancement of differential conductance is robust against interfacial imperfections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of topological states of matter has led to a revolution in condensed-matter science. While a non-trivial band topology in a material is often associated with intriguing transport properties, much less attention has been given to the impact on spin dynamics and non-equilibrium magnetization states. Here, we provide evidence that a chiral asymmetric magnon dispersion in the two-dimensional Weyl magnet Fe/W(110) is related to the presence of Weyl fermions close to the Fermi energy and surface Fermi arcs. We find that the large anomalous Hall conductivity and the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction are attributed to the non-trivial band topology in the composite momentum-magnetization space. Our results show the direct impact of Weyl fermions on both the charge and spin dynamics in a two-dimensional magnet. Unveiling these principles can promote innovative technologies in magnonics by utilizing topological materials, where magnons and non-trivial topological electronic states can be manipulated through magnetization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Condensed matter physics has often provided a platform for investigating the interplay between particles and fields in cases that have not been observed in high-energy physics. Here, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we provide an example of this by visualizing the electronic structure of a noncentrosymmetric magnetic Weyl semimetal candidate NdAlSi in both the paramagnetic and ferrimagnetic states. We observe surface Fermi arcs and bulk Weyl fermion dispersion as well as the emergence of new Weyl fermions in the ferrimagnetic state. Our results establish NdAlSi as a magnetic Weyl semimetal and provide an experimental observation of ferrimagnetic regulation of Weyl fermions in condensed matter. A Weyl semimetal formally requires either broken time reversal symmetry or inversion symmetry. One class of Weyl semimetals-the crystal family of NdAlSi-exhibits both. Here, Li et al perform angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements on NdAlSi, and observe the formation of an additional Weyl fermion as the material becomes ferrimagnetic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral crystals, characterized by rotation, screw rotation, and translation symmetries are abundant in nature. The existence of Kramers–Weyl fermions (KWFs) at the time‐reversal‐invariant momenta in nonmagnetic chiral crystals (NCCs) has attracted intense attention due to their unique physical properties beyond conventional Weyl fermions. Although the spin texture, one of the most fundamental physical quantities, is found to be dramatically different for different KWFs in different NCCs, a unified understanding of this puzzling phenomenon is still lacking. In this article, combining k · p theory and first‐principles calculations, k‐linear Hamiltonians for KWFs are constructed and consequently a complete classification for the spin textures of KWFs in all the NCCs is made, which are confirmed by a series of material example calculations. Interestingly, it is found that the spin textures are reversed in NCCs with opposite chirality, leading to reversed Fermi arc surface states. Importantly, this study unveils that the nonlinear optical responses around the KWFs in NCCs can be largely determined by their spin texture classification. This study not only provides a unified understanding of the spin textures of KWFs in all the NCCs, but also suggests a principle to design novel KWF‐related spintronics and nonlinear optics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, multifold fermions characterized by band crossings with multifold degeneracy and Fermi surfaces with higher Chern numbers have been discovered experimentally in AlPt (Schroter et al. in Nat Phys 15:759–765, 2019) and XSi(X = Rh,Co) (Sanchez et al. in Nature 567:500–505, 2019; Rao et al. in Nature 567:496–499, 2019; Takane et al. in Phys Rev Lett 122:076402, 2019). In this work, we largely expand the family of multifold fermion materials by pointing out that several well-studied noncentrosymmetric superconductors are indeed multifold fermion metals. Importantly, their normal state topological properties, which have been ignored in previous studies, play an important role in the superconducting properties. Taking Li 2 Pd 3 B and Li 2 Pt 3 B as examples, we found a large number of unconventional degenerate points, such as double spin-1, spin-3/2, Weyl and double Weyl topological band crossing points near the Fermi energy, which result in finite Chern numbers on Fermi surfaces. Long Fermi arc states in Li 2 Pd 3 B , originating from the nontrivial band topology were found. Importantly, it has been shown experimentally that Li 2 Pd 3 B and Li 2 Pt 3 B are fully gapped and gapless superconductors, respectively. By analyzing the possible pairing symmetries, we suggest that Li 2 Pd 3 B is a conventional s-wave superconductor or DIII class topological superconductor with Majorana surface states. Li 2 Pt 3 B , being gapless, is likely to be a nodal topological superconductor with dispersionless surface Majorana modes. We further identified that several noncentrosymmetric superconductors, such as Mo 3 Al 2 C , PdBiSe, Y 2 C 3 and La 2 C 3 , are multifold fermion superconductors. This work calls for a revisit for the study of noncentrosymmtric superconductors which provide platforms for investigating the interplay between superconductivity and topologically nontrivial Fermi surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 RMC2 (R a rare-earth and M a transition metal), showing several members to be Weyl semimetals. Using the noncentrosymmetric ferromagnet NdRhC2 as an illustrating example, we show that an odd number of Weyl nodes can be stabilized at its Fermi surface by properly tilting its magnetization. The chiral configuration endows a topological phase transition as the Weyl node transitions across the Fermi sheets, which triggers interesting chiral electromagnetic responses. Further, the tilt direction determines the sign of the resulting net chirality, opening up a simple route to control its sign and strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the pressure dependence of the electronic and dynamical properties of six different CoGe phases with orthorhombic Cmmm, hexagonal P6/mmm and P 6 ̄ 2m, monoclinic C2/m, cubic P2 1 3, and orthorhombic Pnma symmetries. Using first-principles DFT calculations and the direct force-constants method, we study the dynamical stability of individual phases under external pressure. We show that the orthorhombic (Cmmm) and hexagonal (P6/mmm) structures are unstable over a broad pressure range and most pronounced imaginary phonon soft mode in both cases leads to a stable hexagonal (P 6 ̄ 2m) structure of the lowest ground-state energy of all studied phases at ambient and low (below ∼ 3 GPa) external pressure. Under these conditions, the cubic structure has the highest energy, however, together with monoclinic and orthorhombic phases, it is dynamically stable and all these three structures can potentially coexist as meta-stable phases. Above ∼ 3 GPa , the cubic phase becomes the most energetically favorable. Fitting the Birch–Murnaghan equation of state, we derive bulk modulus for all mentioned phases. The results indicate relatively high resistance of CoGe to compression. Such conclusions are confirmed by band structure calculations. Additionally, we show that electronic bands of the hexagonal (P 6 ̄ 2m) phase reveal characteristic features of the kagome-like structure, while in the cubic phase the electronic bands contain spin-1 and double Weyl fermions. In both cases, the external pressure induces the Lifshitz transition, related to the modification of the Fermi surface topology. [Display omitted] • The P 6 ̄ 2m phase is most energetically favored in the absence of pressure. • All investigated phases possess similar mechanical properties, while the Cmmm and P6/mmm phases are unstable in a dynamic sense. • Above approximately 3 GPa, the P2 1 3 phase has the lowest energies. • External pressure induces the Lifshitz transition for both the P 6 ̄ 2m and P2 1 3 phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weyl semimetals are 3D condensed matter systems characterized by a degenerate Fermi surface, consisting of a pair of 'Weyl nodes'. Correspondingly, in the infrared limit, these systems behave effectively as Weyl fermions in 3 + 1 dimensions. We consider a class of interacting 3D lattice models for Weyl semimetals and prove that the quadratic response of the quasi-particle flow between the Weyl nodes is universal, that is, independent of the interaction strength and form. Universality is the counterpart of the Adler–Bardeen non-renormalization property of the chiral anomaly for the infrared emergent description, which is proved here in the presence of a lattice and at a non-perturbative level. Our proof relies on constructive bounds for the Euclidean ground state correlations combined with lattice Ward Identities, and it is valid arbitrarily close to the critical point where the Weyl points merge and the relativistic description breaks down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Weyl semimetal has emerged as a new topologically nontrivial phase of matter, hosting low-energy excitations of massless Weyl fermions. Here, we present a comprehensive study of a type-II Weyl semimetal WP2. Transport studies show a butterfly-like magnetoresistance at low temperature, reflecting the anisotropy of the electron Fermi surfaces. This four-lobed feature gradually evolves into a two-lobed variant with an increase in temperature, mainly due to the reduced relative contribution of electron Fermi surfaces compared to hole Fermi surfaces for magnetoresistance. Moreover, an angle-dependent Berry phase is also discovered, based on quantum oscillations, which is ascribed to the effective manipulation of extremal Fermi orbits by the magnetic field to feel nearby topological singularities in the momentum space. The revealed topological character and anisotropic Fermi surfaces of the WP2 substantially enrich the physical properties of Weyl semimetals, and show great promises in terms of potential topological electronic and Fermitronic device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Weyl semimetal has emerged as a new topologically nontrivial phase of matter, hosting low-energy excitations of massless Weyl fermions. Here, we present a comprehensive study of a type-II Weyl semimetal WP2. Transport studies show a butterfly-like magnetoresistance at low temperature, reflecting the anisotropy of the electron Fermi surfaces. This four-lobed feature gradually evolves into a two-lobed variant with an increase in temperature, mainly due to the reduced relative contribution of electron Fermi surfaces compared to hole Fermi surfaces for magnetoresistance. Moreover, an angle-dependent Berry phase is also discovered, based on quantum oscillations, which is ascribed to the effective manipulation of extremal Fermi orbits by the magnetic field to feel nearby topological singularities in the momentum space. The revealed topological character and anisotropic Fermi surfaces of the WP2 substantially enrich the physical properties of Weyl semimetals, and show great promises in terms of potential topological electronic and Fermitronic device applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary compound HfCuP is a potential Weyl semimetal coexisting both type-I and type-II Weyl nodes. In most Weyl semimetal (WSMs), the Weyl nodes with opposite chiralities usually have the same type of band dispersions (either type-I or type-II), whereas realistic candidate materials hosting different types of Weyl nodes have not been identified to date. Here we report for the first time that, a ternary compound HfCuP, is an excellent WSM with the coexistence of type-I and type-II Weyl nodes. Our results show that, HfCuP totally contains six pairs of type-I and six pairs of type-II Weyl nodes in the Brillouin zone, all locating at the H-K path. These Weyl nodes situate slightly below the Fermi level, and do not coexist with other extraneous bands. The nontrivial band structure in HfCuP produces clear Fermi arc surface states in the (1 0 0) surface projection. Moreover, we find the Weyl nodes in HfCuP can be effectively tuned by strain engineering. These characteristics make HfCuP a potential candidate material to investigate the novel properties of type-I and type-II Weyl fermions, as well as the potential entanglements between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topological semimetals characterize a unique class of quantum materials hosting Dirac/Weyl fermions. The important features of topological fermions can be exhibited by quantum oscillations. Here, we report the magnetoresistance and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) quantum oscillation of longitudinal resistance in the single crystal of topological semimetal candidate Ta3SiTe6 with a magnetic field up to 38 T. The periodic amplitude of the oscillations shows related information about the Fermi surface. The fast Fourier transformation spectra represent a single oscillatory frequency. The analysis of the oscillations shows the Fermi pocket with a cross sectional area of 0.13 Å−2. Combining magneto-transport measurements and the first-principles calculation, we find that these oscillations come from the hole pocket. Hall resistivity and the SdH oscillations recommend that Ta3SiTe6 is a hole dominated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since their prediction and subsequent discovery, topological semimetals (TSMs) have established a new research area, which includes the prediction of new semimetal phases, the realization of new materials types, and the exploration of their properties as well as potential for incorporation into devices. In their contribution, Xu I et al. i predicted that the noncentrosymmetric superconductor YCoC SB 2 sb (reported Tc = 4.2 K) is a TSM in its normal state.[42] The authors show based on first principles calculations that YCoC SB 2 sb should host multiple Weyl nodes as well as Fermi arcs on its surface. In this collection, Muechler I et al. i showed with first principles calculations that this 7 K superconductor is a nodal line semimetal.[43] NaAlSi crystallizes in the same crystal structure as the nodal line semimetal ZrSiS,[[44]] but here, the band inversion stems from different orbitals. In this light, Negishi I et al. i studied thin films of the Perovskite-type iridates SrIrO SB 3 sb and CaIrO SB 3 sb , which are known to be Dirac line node semimetals.[52] The authors substitute Sn on the Ir position and found that while in the Strontium iridate, this causes a transition from a semimetallic state to a weakly ferromagnetic insulating state, no clear signature of such a transition is seen in the calcium iridate. [Extracted from the article]

Anomalous surface states with Fermi arcs are commonly considered to be a fingerprint of Dirac semimetals (DSMs). In contrast to Weyl semimetals, however, Fermi arcs of DSMs are not topologically protected. Using first-principles calculations, we predict that β-cuprous iodide (β-CuI) is a peculiar DSM whose surface states form closed Fermi pockets instead of Fermi arcs. In such a fermiological Dirac semimetal, the deformation mechanism from Fermi arcs to Fermi pockets stems from a large cubic term preserving all crystal symmetries and from the small energy difference between the surface and bulk Dirac points. The cubic term in β-CuI, usually negligible in prototypical DSMs, becomes relevant because of the particular crystal structure. As such, we establish a concrete material example manifesting the lack of topological protection for surface Fermi arcs in DSMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was proposed recently that the black hole may undergo a transition to the state, where inside the horizon the Fermi surface is formed that reveals an analogy with the recently discovered type II Weyl semimetals. In this scenario, the low energy effective theory outside of the horizon is the Standard Model, which describes excitations that reside near a certain point in momentum space of the hypothetical unified theory. Inside the horizon the low energy physics is due to the excitations that reside at the points in momentum space close to the Fermi surface. We argue that those points may be essentially distant from and, therefore, inside the black hole the quantum states are involved in the low energy dynamics that are not described by the Standard Model. We analyze the consequences of this observation for the physics of the black holes and present the model based on the direct analogy with the type II Weyl semimetals, which illustrates this pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a type-II Weyl fermion was theoretically predicted to appear at the contact of electron and hole Fermi surface pockets. A distinguishing feature of the surfaces of type-II Weyl semimetals is the existence of topological surface states, so-called Fermi arcs. Although WTe2 was the first material suggested as a type-II Weyl semimetal, the direct observation of its tilting Weyl cone and Fermi arc has not yet been successful. Here, we show strong evidence that WTe2 is a type-II Weyl semimetal by observing two unique transport properties simultaneously in one WTe2 nanoribbon. The negative magnetoresistance induced by a chiral anomaly is quite anisotropic in WTe2 nanoribbons, which is present in b-axis ribbon, but is absent in a-axis ribbon. An extra-quantum oscillation, arising from a Weyl orbit formed by the Fermi arc and bulk Landau levels, displays a two dimensional feature and decays as the thickness increases in WTe2 nanoribbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The type-II Weyl and type-II Dirac points emerge in semimetals and also in relativistic systems. In particular, the type-II Weyl fermions may emerge behind the event horizon of black holes. In this case the horizon with Painlevé-Gullstrand metric serves as the surface of the Lifshitz transition. This relativistic analogy allows us to simulate the black hole horizon and Hawking radiation using the fermionic superfluid with supercritical velocity, and the Dirac and Weyl semimetals with the interface separating the type-I and type-II states. The difference between such type of the artificial event horizon and that which arises in acoustic metric is discussed. At the Lifshitz transition between type-I and type-II fermions the Dirac lines may also emerge, which are supported by the combined action of topology and symmetry. The type-II Weyl and Dirac points also emerge as the intermediate states of the topological Lifshitz transitions. Different configurations of the Fermi surfaces, involved in such Lifshitz transition, are discussed. In one case the type-II Weyl point connects the Fermi pockets and the Lifshitz transition corresponds to the transfer of the Berry flux between the Fermi pockets. In the other case the type-II Weyl point connects the outer and inner Fermi surfaces. At the Lifshitz transition the Weyl point is released from both Fermi surfaces. They loose their Berry flux, which guarantees the global stability, and without the topological support the inner surface disappears after shrinking to a point at the second Lifshitz transition. These examples reveal the complexity and universality of topological Lifshitz transitions, which originate from the ubiquitous interplay of a variety of topological characters of the momentum-space manifolds. For the interacting electrons, the Lifshitz transitions may lead to the formation of the dispersionless (flat) band with zero energy and singular density of states, which opens the route to room-temperature superconductivity. Originally, the idea of the enhancement of $$T_\mathrm{c}$$ due to flat band has been put forward by the nuclear physics community, and this also demonstrates the close connections between different areas of physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The band structure of strongly correlated two-dimensional (2D) semimetal systems is found to be significantly affected by the spin-orbit coupling (SOC), resulting in SOC-induced Fermi surfaces. Dirac,Weyl and Majorana representations are used for the description of different semimetals, though the band structures of all these systems are very similar. We develop a theoretical approach to the band theory of two-dimensional semimetals within the Dirac--Hartree--Fock self-consistent field approximation. It reveals partially breaking symmetry of the Dirac cone affected by quasi-relativistic exchange interactions for 2D crystals with hexagonal symmetry. Fermi velocity becomes an operator within this approach, and elementary excitations have been calculated in the tight-binding approximation when taking into account the exchange interaction of π(pz)-electron with its three nearest π(pz)-electrons. These excitations are described by the massless Majorana equation instead of the Dirac one. The squared equation for this field is of the Klein--Gordon--Fock type. Such a feature of the band structure of 2D semimetals as the appearance of four pairs of nodes is shown to be described naturally within the developed formalism. Numerical simulation of band structure has been performed for the proposed 2D-model of graphene and a monolayer of Pb atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a new type of Weyl semimetal called type-II Weyl semimetal has been proposed. Unlike the usual (type-I) Weyl semimetal, which has a point-like Fermi surface, this new type of Weyl semimetal has a tilted conical spectrum around the Weyl point. Here we calculate the anomalous Hall conductivity of a Weyl semimetal with a tilted conical spectrum for a pair of Weyl points, using the Kubo formula. We find that the Hall conductivity is not universal and can change sign as a function of the parameters quantifying the tilts. Our results suggest that even for the case where the separation between the Weyl points vanishes, tilting of the conical spectrum could give rise to a finite anomalous Hall effect, if the tilts of the two cones are not identical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family of binary compounds including TaAs, TaP, NbAs, and NbP was recently discovered as the first realization of Weyl semimetals. In order to develop a comprehensive description of the charge carriers in these Weyl semimetals, we performed detailed and systematic electronic band structure calculations which reveal the nature of Fermi surfaces and their complex interconnectivity in TaAs, TaP, NbAs, and NbP. Our work reports a comparative and comprehensive study of Fermi surface topology and band structure details of all known members of the Weyl semimetal family and hence provides the fundamental knowledge for realizing the many predicted exotic topological quantum physics of Weyl semimetals based on the TaAs class of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fermions-elementary particles such as electrons-are classified as Dirac, Majorana or Weyl. Majorana and Weyl fermions had not been observed experimentally until the recent discovery of condensed matter systems such as topological superconductors and semimetals, in which they arise as low-energy excitations. Here we propose the existence of a previously overlooked type of Weyl fermion that emerges at the boundary between electron and hole pockets in a new phase of matter. This particle was missed by Weyl because it breaks the stringent Lorentz symmetry in high-energy physics. Lorentz invariance, however, is not present in condensed matter physics, and by generalizing the Dirac equation, we find the new type of Weyl fermion. In particular, whereas Weyl semimetals-materials hosting Weyl fermions-were previously thought to have standard Weyl points with a point-like Fermi surface (which we refer to as type-I), we discover a type-II Weyl point, which is still a protected crossing, but appears at the contact of electron and hole pockets in type-II Weyl semimetals. We predict that WTe2 is an example of a topological semimetal hosting the new particle as a low-energy excitation around such a type-II Weyl point. The existence of type-II Weyl points in WTe2 means that many of its physical properties are very different to those of standard Weyl semimetals with point-like Fermi surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered van der Waals semimetallic T d -WTe 2 , exhibiting intriguing properties which include non-saturating extreme positive magnetoresistance (MR) and tunable chiral anomaly, has emerged as a model topological type-II Weyl semimetal system. Here, ∼45 nm thick mechanically exfoliated flakes of T d -WTe 2 are studied via atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, low-T/high- μ 0 H magnetotransport measurements and optical reflectivity. The contribution of anisotropy of the Fermi liquid state to the origin of the large positive transverse MR ⊥ and the signature of chiral anomaly of the type-II Weyl Fermions are reported. The samples are found to be stable in air and no oxidation or degradation of the electronic properties is observed. A transverse MR ⊥ ∼1200 % and an average carrier mobility of 5000 cm 2 V − 1 s − 1 at T = 5 K for an applied perpendicular field μ 0 H ⊥ = 7 T are established. The system follows a Fermi liquid model for T ≤ 50 K and the anisotropy of the Fermi surface is concluded to be at the origin of the observed positive MR. Optical reflectivity measurements confirm the anisotropy of the electronic behaviour. The relative orientation of the crystal axes and of the applied electric and magnetic fields is proven to determine the observed chiral anomaly in the in-plane magnetotransport. The observed chiral anomaly in the WTe 2 flakes is found to persist up to T = 120 K , a temperature at least four times higher than the ones reported to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic topological materials have attracted increasingly attentions in recent years due to their exotic electronic behaviors emerging from the couplings of topological, magnetic, and crystalline symmetries. In this work, based on the first-principles calculations, we propose that hexagonal wurtzite MnO is a magnetic topological spin-gapless semi-half-metal with two pairs of type-I Weyl fermions near the Fermi level in ferromagnetic state, which is a promising candidate material in spintronic and piezoelectric applications. In the absence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC), it hosts one triple degeneracy point (TP) in the irreducible Brillouin zone. Owing to weak SOC, the TP splits into two type-I Weyl points that are very close to each other. The Fermi arc surface states connecting the projected Weyl points with opposite chirality are observed. Our results therefore provide a wonderful platform to study the interplay of magnetism and topology. • A novel magnetic topological semi-half-metal, ferromagnetic wz-MnO, is proposed. • Two pairs of Weyl fermions are hosted near the Fermi level. • It could generate 100% spin polarization, which is of profound value for spintronics. • The system is an ideal platform to explore the interplay of topology and magnetism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on first‐principles calculations and effective model analysis, the long‐ago synthesized material YPtP is identified as a topological semimetal (TSM) material for studying the interaction between Weyl and triply degenerate fermions. When the spin–orbit coupling (SOC) is ignored, a triply degenerate point (TDP) and two types of ring‐shaped gapless nodal lines coexist in YPtP. When SOC is considered, the TDP turns to two type‐II TDPs, and the nodal lines open the bandgap and one of them transforms into 12 pairs of Weyl points. Thus, YPtP is a ternary TSM with the coexistence of type‐II TDPs and Weyl points. The surface states and Fermi arcs in YPtP further verify the topological characteristics of YPtP. The results herein provide a new platform for exploring ternary topological materials and the interaction between the two different fermions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations of a three-dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetal candidate of layered material ZrTe5 single crystals through contactless electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements with the magnetic field up to 1.4 T. The ESR signals manifest remarkably anisotropic characteristics with respect to the direction of the magnetic field, indicating an anisotropic Fermi surface in ZrTe5. Further experiments demonstrate that the ZrTe5 single crystals have the signature of massless Dirac fermions with nontrivial π Berry phase, key evidence for 3D Dirac/Weyl fermions. Moreover, the onset of quantum oscillation of our ZrTe5 crystals revealed by the ESR can be derived down to 0.2 T, much smaller than the onset of SdH oscillation determined by conventional magnetoresistance measurements. Therefore, ESR measurement is a powerful tool to study the topologically nontrivial electronic structure in Dirac/Weyl semimetals and other topological materials with low bulk carrier density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distinct to type-I Weyl semimetals (WSMs) that host quasiparticles described by the Weyl equation, the energy dispersion of quasiparticles in type-II WSMs violates Lorentz invariance and the Weyl cones in the momentum space are tilted. Since it was proposed that type-II Weyl fermions could emerge from (W, Mo)Te2 and (W, Mo)P2 families of materials, a large number of experiments have been dedicated to unveiling the possible manifestation of type-II WSMs, e.g., surface-state Fermi arcs. However, the interpretations of the experimental results are very controversial. Here, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy supported by the first-principles calculations, we probe the tilted Weyl cone bands in the bulk electronic structure of WP2 directly, which are at the origin of Fermi arcs at the surfaces and transport properties related to the chiral anomaly in type-II WSMs. Our results ascertain that, due to the spin-orbit coupling, the Weyl nodes originate from the splitting of fourfold degenerate band-crossing points with Chern numbers C = ± 2 induced by the crystal symmetries of WP2, which is unique among all the discovered WSMs. Our finding also provides a guiding line to observe the chiral anomaly that could manifest in novel transport properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weyl type-II fermions are massless quasiparticles that obey the Weyl equation and which are predicted to occur at the boundary between electron and hole pockets in certain semimetals, i.e., the (W,Mo)(Te,P)2 compounds. Here, we present a study of the Fermi surface of WP2 via the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect. Compared to other semimetals, WP2 exhibits a very low residual resistivity, i.e., ρ0≃10nΩcm, which leads to perhaps the largest nonsaturating magnetoresistivity [ρ(H)] reported for any compound. For the samples displaying the smallest ρ0,ρ(H) is observed to increase by a factor of 2.5×107% under μ0H=35 T at T=0.35 K. The angular dependence of the SdH frequencies is found to be in excellent agreement with the first-principles calculations when the electron and hole bands are shifted by 30 meV with respect to the Fermi level. This small discrepancy could have implications for the predicted topological character of this compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tantalum arsenide is a member of the noncentrosymmetric monopnictides, which are putative Weyl semimetals. In these materials, three-dimensional chiral massless quasiparticles, the so-called Weyl fermions, are predicted to induce novel quantum mechanical phenomena, such as the chiral anomaly and topological surface states. However, their chirality is only well defined if the Fermi level is close enough to the Weyl points that separate Fermi surface pockets of opposite chirality exist. In this Letter, we present the bulk Fermi surface topology of high quality single crystals of TaAs, as determined by angle-dependent Shubnikov-de Haas and de Haas-van Alphen measurements combined with ab initio band-structure calculations. Quantum oscillations originating from three different types of Fermi surface pockets were found in magnetization, magnetic torque, and magnetoresistance measurements performed in magnetic fields up to 14 T and temperatures down to 1.8 K. Of these Fermi pockets, two are pairs of topologically nontrivial electron pockets around the Weyl points and one is a trivial hole pocket. Unlike the other members of the noncentrosymmetric monopnictides, TaAs is the first Weyl semimetal candidate with the Fermi energy sufficiently close to both types of Weyl points to generate chiral quasiparticles at the Fermi surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodically driven systems provide tunable platforms to realize interesting Floquet topological phases and phase transitions. In electronic systems with Weyl dispersions, the band crossings are topologically protected even in the presence of time-periodic perturbations. This robustness permits various routes to shift and tilt the Weyl spectra in the momentum and energy space using circularly polarized light of sufficient intensity. We show that type-II Weyl fermions, in which the Weyl dispersions are tilted with the appearance of pocketlike Fermi surfaces, can be induced in driven Dirac semimetals and line node semimetals. Under a circularly polarized drive, both semimetal systems immediately generate Weyl node pairs whose types can be further controlled by the driving amplitude and direction. The resultant phase diagrams demonstrate experimental feasibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct a tight-binding model realizing one pair of Weyl nodes and three distinct Weyl semimetals. In the type-I (type-II) Weyl semimetal, both nodes belong to type-I (type-II) Weyl nodes. In addition, there exists a third type, previously undiscovered and dubbed "hybrid Weyl semimetal", in which one Weyl node is of type I while the other is of type II. For the hybrid Weyl semimetal, we further demonstrate the bulk Fermi surfaces and the topologically protected surface states, analyze the unique Landau-level structure and quantum oscillation, and discuss the conditions for possible material realization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on HfSiS, which has been predicted to be a topological line-node semimetal with square Si lattice. We found a quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surface hosting bulk nodal lines, alongside the surface states at the Brillouin-zone corner exhibiting a sizable Rashba splitting and band-mass renormalization due to many-body interactions. Most notably, we discovered an unexpected Dirac-like dispersion extending one dimensionally in k space--the Dirac-node arc--near the bulk node at the zone diagonal. These novel Dirac states reside on the surface and could be related to hybridizations of bulk states, but currently we have no explanation for its origin. This discovery poses an intriguing challenge to the theoretical understanding of topological line-node semimetals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the pressure evolution of the Fermi surface topology of the Weyl semimetal NbP, probed by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the magnetoresistance combined with ab initio calculations of the band structure. Although we observe a drastic effect on the amplitudes of the quantum oscillations, the frequencies only exhibit a weak pressure dependence up to 2.8 GPa. The pressure-induced variations in the oscillation frequencies are consistent with our band-structure calculations. Furthermore, we can relate the changes in the amplitudes to small modifications in the shape of the Fermi surface. Our findings show evidence of the stability of the electronic band structure of NbP and demonstrate the power of combining quantum-oscillation studies and band-structure calculations to investigate pressure effects on the Fermi surface topology in Weyl semimetals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]