Observation of Fermi arc and its connection with bulk states in the candidate type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2

Abstract

A kind of topological material, the type-II Weyl semimetal, was proposed recently where the Weyl points emerge at the contact points of the electron and hole pockets, resulting in a highly tilted Weyl cone. In type-II Weyl semimetals, the Lorentz invariance is violated and a different type of Weyl fermion is generated that leads to intriguing physical properties. WTe2 is interesting because it is predicted to be a good candidate for realizing type-II Weyl semimetals. By utilizing laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with high energy and momentum resolutions, we have revealed a full picture of the electronic structure of WTe2. A clear surface state has been identified and its connection with the bulk electronic states in the momentum and energy space shows good agreement with band structure calculations. Our results provide electronic signatures that are consistent with type-II Weyl states in WTe2. They lay a foundation for further investigations on the topological nature of WTe2 and the exploration of unique phenomena and physical properties in type-II Weyl semimetals.Received 2 August 2016Revised 4 November 2016DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.241119©2016 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasElectronic structureFermi surfaceSurface statesTopological materialsTopological phases of matterCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics