V. N. Strocov

Observation of Weyl nodes in TaAs

Experiments show that TaAs is a three-dimensional topological Weyl semimetal. In 1929, H. Weyl proposed that the massless solution of the Dirac equation represents a pair of a new type of particles, the so-called Weyl fermions1. However, their existence in particle physics remains elusive after more than eight decades. Recently, significant advances in both topological insulators and topological semimetals have provided an alternative way to realize Weyl fermions in condensed matter, as an emergent phenomenon: when two non-degenerate bands in the three-dimensional momentum space cross in the vicinity of the Fermi energy (called Weyl nodes), the low-energy excitations behave exactly as Weyl fermions. Here we report the direct observation in TaAs of the long-sought-after Weyl nodes by performing bulk-sensitive soft X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. The projected locations at the nodes on the (001) surface match well to the Fermi arcs, providing undisputable experimental evidence for the existence of Weyl fermionic quasiparticles in TaAs.

Discovery of a Weyl fermion state with Fermi arcs in niobium arsenide

We report the discovery of Weyl semimetal NbAs featuring topological Fermi arc surface states.

SAXES, a high resolution spectrometer for resonant x-ray emission in the 400-1600 eV energy range

We present a 5m long spectrometer for soft x rays to be used at a synchrotron radiation beamline for resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering in the 400–1600eV energy range. It is based on a variable line spacing spherical grating (average groove density of 3200mm−1, R=58.55m) and a charge coupled device two dimensional detector. With an x-ray spot on the sample of 10μm, the targeted resolving power is higher than 10 000 at all energies below 1100eV and better than 7000 at 1500eV. The off-line tests made with Al and MgKα1,2 fluorescence emissions indicate that the spectrometer can actually work at 12 000 and 17 000 resolving power at the L3 edges of Cu (930eV) and of Ti (470eV), respectively. SAXES (superadvanced x-ray emission spectrometer) is mounted on a rotating platform allowing to vary the scattering angle from 25° to 130°. The spectrometer will be operational at the ADRESS (advanced resonant spectroscopies) beamline of the Swiss Light Source from 2007.

Spin-orbital separation in the quasi-one-dimensional Mott insulator Sr2CuO3

When viewed as an elementary particle, the electron has spin and charge. When binding to the atomic nucleus, it also acquires an angular momentum quantum number corresponding to the quantized atomic orbital it occupies. Even if electrons in solids form bands and delocalize from the nuclei, in Mott insulators they retain their three fundamental quantum numbers: spin, charge and orbital. The hallmark of one-dimensional physics is a breaking up of the elementary electron into its separate degrees of freedom. The separation of the electron into independent quasi-particles that carry either spin (spinons) or charge (holons) was first observed fifteen years ago. Here we report observation of the separation of the orbital degree of freedom (orbiton) using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering on the one-dimensional Mott insulator Sr2CuO3. We resolve an orbiton separating itself from spinons and propagating through the lattice as a distinct quasi-particle with a substantial dispersion in energy over momentum, of about 0.2 electronvolts, over nearly one Brillouin zone.

Coherent science at the SwissFEL x-ray laser

The Paul Scherrer Institute is planning the construction of a hard-x-ray free-electron laser, the SwissFEL, by 2016, which will produce intense, ultrashort pulses of transversely coherent radiation in the wavelength range 0.1?7?nm, with future extensions to cover the range 0.08?30?nm. Special design considerations include (a) a compact construction, compatible with the status of a national facility, (b) a uniform 100?Hz repetition rate, well suited to sample manipulations and detector readout, (c) flexible wavelength tuning by the electron beam energy and undulator gaps, (d) soft x-rays at approximately 1?nm wavelength, with circular polarization and Fourier-transform-limited pulses, (e)?hard x-rays of pulse duration 5?20?fs and (f) an independent source of high-energy, half-cycle terahertz pump pulses. The science case for the Swiss FEL project, which emphasizes the dynamics of condensed matter systems and the damage-free imaging of nanostructures, includes novel considerations that make optimal use of these features.

Observation of Weyl nodes and Fermi arcs in tantalum phosphide.

A Weyl semimetal possesses spin-polarized band-crossings, called Weyl nodes, connected by topological surface arcs. The low-energy excitations near the crossing points behave the same as massless Weyl fermions, leading to exotic properties like chiral anomaly. To have the transport properties dominated by Weyl fermions, Weyl nodes need to locate nearly at the chemical potential and enclosed by pairs of individual Fermi surfaces with non-zero Fermi Chern numbers. Combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculation, here we show that TaP is a Weyl semimetal with only a single type of Weyl fermions, topologically distinguished from TaAs where two types of Weyl fermions contribute to the low-energy physical properties. The simple Weyl fermions in TaP are not only of fundamental interests but also of great potential for future applications. Fermi arcs on the Ta-terminated surface are observed, which appear in a different pattern from that on the As-termination in TaAs and NbAs.

Disentanglement of Surface and Bulk Rashba Spin Splittings in Noncentrosymmetric BiTeI

BiTeI has a layered and non-centrosymmetric structure where strong spin-orbit interaction leads to a giant spin splitting in the bulk bands. Here we present high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) data in the UV and soft x-ray regime that clearly disentangle the surface from the bulk electronic structure. Spin-resolved UV-ARPES measurements on opposite, nonequivalent surfaces show identical spin structures, thus clarifying the surface state character. Soft x-ray ARPES data clearly reveal the spindle-torus shape of the bulk Fermi surface, induced by the spin-orbit interaction. PACS numbers: 71.20.Nr, 71.70.Ej, 79.60.Bm 1 ar X iv :1 20 4. 21 96 v1 [ co nd -m at .m tr lsc i] 1 0 A pr 2 01 2 The breaking of inversion symmetry and its influence on the spin structure of surface states under action of spin–orbit interaction (SOI) has been extensively studied in recent years [1, 2]. The main finding is that the surface states become spin-split according to the Rashba model [3] resulting in two spin-polarized concentric Fermi contours. The lack of inversion symmetry in the bulk crystal structure is expected to induce a spin splitting with a more complex bandand spin-structure. Combined with strong SOI the Fermi surface can take the shape of a torus [4]. For non-centrosymmetric superconductors such as for example CePt3Si [5] this peculiar band structure is expected to result in topologically protected spin polarized edge states reminiscent of Majorana modes [6]. Recently, an ARPES and spin-resolved ARPES study by Ishizaka et al. [7] proposed that the semiconductor BiTeI features a very large spin-splitting, arising from the broken inversion symmetry in the crystal bulk and a strong SOI. Theoretical work based on the perturbative k ·p formalism linked the unusually large spin splitting in BiTeI to the negative crystal field splitting of the top valence bands [8]. Optical transition measurements [9] are in accordance with the giant bulk spin-splitting of the gap defining valence and conduction bands predicted by first principle calculations [7, 8]. In addition it was shown in recent theoretical work that BiTeI can become a topological insulator under action of hydrostatic pressure [10], and thus is closely related to non-centrosymmetric topological superconductors. The present study provides first band mapping of a system without bulk inversion symmetry and giant SOI by the example of BiTeI, featuring a three-dimensional Rashba splitting of the bulk bands. Further it is shown that the Rashba-split state observed for this material in the UV photon energy regime is not a quantum well state [7] but rather a surface state, using a simple symmetry argument based on spin-resolved ARPES (SARPES) measurements, which is confirmed by first principle calculations. All measurements were performed at the Swiss Light Source of the Paul-Scherrer-Institut. The SARPES data was measured with the Mott polarimeter at the COPHEE endstation [11] of the Surface and Interface Spectroscopy beamline at a photon energy of 24 eV. The spin-integrated data at photon energies 20-63 eV were taken at the high-resolution ARPES endstation at the same beamline. The soft x-ray ARPES data were taken at the SX-ARPES endstation of the ADRESS beamline at photon energies of 310-850 eV. All spin-integrated measurements were performed at a sample temperature of 11 K and a base pressure lower than 10−10 mbar, the SARPES data was taken at 20 K.

Observation of three-component fermions in the topological semimetal molybdenum phosphide

In quantum field theory, Lorentz invariance leads to three types of fermion—Dirac, Weyl and Majorana. Although the existence of Weyl and Majorana fermions as elementary particles in high-energy physics is debated, all three types of fermion have been proposed to exist as low-energy, long-wavelength quasiparticle excitations in condensed-matter systems. The existence of Dirac and Weyl fermions in condensed-matter systems has been confirmed experimentally, and that of Majorana fermions is supported by various experiments. However, in condensed-matter systems, fermions in crystals are constrained by the symmetries of the 230 crystal space groups rather than by Lorentz invariance, giving rise to the possibility of finding other types of fermionic excitation that have no counterparts in high-energy physics. Here we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to demonstrate the existence of a triply degenerate point in the electronic structure of crystalline molybdenum phosphide. Quasiparticle excitations near a triply degenerate point are three-component fermions, beyond the conventional Dirac–Weyl–Majorana classification, which attributes Dirac and Weyl fermions to four- and two-fold degenerate points, respectively. We also observe pairs of Weyl points in the bulk electronic structure of the crystal that coexist with the three-component fermions. This material thus represents a platform for studying the interplay between different types of fermions. Our experimental discovery opens up a way of exploring the new physics of unconventional fermions in condensed-matter systems.

Collective Magnetic Excitations in the Spin Ladder Sr14Cu24O41 Measured Using High-Resolution Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

We investigate magnetic excitations in the spin-ladder compound Sr_{14}Cu_{24}O_{41} using high-resolution Cu L_{3} edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). Our findings demonstrate that RIXS couples to two-triplon collective excitations. In contrast to inelastic neutron scattering, the RIXS cross section changes only moderately over the entire Brillouin zone, revealing high sensitivity also at small momentum transfers, allowing determination of the two-triplon energy gap as 100 +/- 30 meV. Our results are backed by calculations within an effective Hubbard model for a finite-size cluster, and confirm that optical selection rules are obeyed for excitations from this spherically symmetric quantum spin-liquid ground state.

Unveiling the complex electronic structure of amorphous metal oxides

Amorphous materials represent a large and important emerging area of material’s science. Amorphous oxides are key technological oxides in applications such as a gate dielectric in Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor devices and in Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon and TANOS (TaN-Al2O3-Si3N4-SiO2-Silicon) flash memories. These technologies are required for the high packing density of today’s integrated circuits. Therefore the investigation of defect states in these structures is crucial. In this work we present X-ray synchrotron measurements, with an energy resolution which is about 5–10 times higher than is attainable with standard spectrometers, of amorphous alumina. We demonstrate that our experimental results are in agreement with calculated spectra of amorphous alumina which we have generated by stochastic quenching. This first principles method, which we have recently developed, is found to be superior to molecular dynamics in simulating the rapid gas to solid transition that takes place as this material is deposited for thin film applications. We detect and analyze in detail states in the band gap that originate from oxygen pairs. Similar states were previously found in amorphous alumina by other spectroscopic methods and were assigned to oxygen vacancies claimed to act mutually as electron and hole traps. The oxygen pairs which we probe in this work act as hole traps only and will influence the information retention in electronic devices. In amorphous silica oxygen pairs have already been found, thus they may be a feature which is characteristic also of other amorphous metal oxides.