- Main
Experimental observation of topological Fermi arcs in type-II Weyl semimetal MoTe 2
- Author(s): Deng, K
- Wan, G
- Deng, P
- Zhang, K
- Ding, S
- Wang, E
- Yan, M
- Huang, H
- Zhang, H
- Xu, Z
- Denlinger, J
- Fedorov, A
- Yang, H
- Duan, W
- Yao, H
- Wu, Y
- Fan, S
- Zhang, H
- Chen, X
- Zhou, S
- et al.
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3871Abstract
© 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. Weyl semimetal is a new quantum state of matter hosting the condensed matter physics counterpart of the relativistic Weyl fermions originally introduced in high-energy physics. The Weyl semimetal phase realized in the TaAs class of materials features multiple Fermi arcs arising from topological surface states and exhibits novel quantum phenomena, such as a chiral anomaly-induced negative magnetoresistance and possibly emergent supersymmetry. Recently it was proposed theoretically that a new type (type-II) of Weyl fermion that arises due to the breaking of Lorentz invariance, which does not have a counterpart in high-energy physics, can emerge as topologically protected touching between electron and hole pockets. Here, we report direct experimental evidence of topological Fermi arcs in the predicted type-II Weyl semimetal MoTe 2 (refs 23-25). The topological surface states are confirmed by directly observing the surface states using bulk- and surface-sensitive angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and the quasi-particle interference pattern between the putative topological Fermi arcs in scanning tunnelling microscopy. By establishing MoTe 2 as an experimental realization of a type-II Weyl semimetal, our work opens up opportunities for probing the physical properties of this exciting new state.