A charge-density-wave topological semimetal

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-01104-z

Authors: Wujun Shi (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids; ShanghaiTech University) , Benjamin J. Wieder (Princeton University) , Holger L. Meyerheim (Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics) , Yan Sun (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids) , Yang Zhang (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids; Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research) , Yiwei Li (University of Oxford) , Lei Shen (Tsinghua University) , Yanpeng Qi (ShanghaiTech University) , Lexian Yang (Tsinghua University) , Jagannath Jena (Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics) , Peter Werner (Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics) , Klaus Koepernik (Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research) , Stuart Parkin (Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics) , Yulin Chen (ShanghaiTech University; University of Oxford; Tsinghua University) , Claudia Felser (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids) , B. Andrei Bernevig (Princeton University) , Zhijun Wang (Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; University of Chinese Academy of Science)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Nature Physics , VOL 83

State: Published (Approved)
Published: January 2021

Abstract: Topological physics and strong electron–electron correlations in quantum materials are typically studied independently. However, there have been rapid recent developments in quantum materials in which topological phase transitions emerge when the single-particle band structure is modified by strong interactions. Here we demonstrate that the room-temperature phase of (TaSe4)2I is a Weyl semimetal with 24 pairs of Weyl nodes. Owing to its quasi-one-dimensional structure, (TaSe4)2I also hosts an established charge-density wave instability just below room temperature. We show that the charge-density wave in (TaSe4)2I couples the bulk Weyl points and opens a bandgap. The correlation-driven topological phase transition in (TaSe4)2I provides a route towards observing condensed-matter realizations of axion electrodynamics in the gapped regime, topological chiral response effects in the semimetallic phase, and represents an avenue for exploring the interplay of correlations and topology in a solid-state material.

Journal Keywords: Electronic properties and materials; Topological matter

Subject Areas: Materials, Physics


Instruments: I05-ARPES

Other Facilities: ESRF

Added On: 13/01/2021 13:58

Discipline Tags:

Quantum Materials Hard condensed matter - electronic properties Physics Electronics Materials Science

Technical Tags:

Spectroscopy Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) High Resolution ARPES (HR-ARPES)