Mirror protected Dirac fermions on a Weyl semimetal NbP surface

Abstract

The first Weyl semimetal was recently discovered in the NbP class of compounds. Although the topology of these novel materials has been identified, the surface properties are not yet fully understood. By means of scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we find that NbPs (001) surface hosts a pair of Dirac cones protected by mirror symmetry. Through our high resolution spectroscopic measurements, we resolve the quantum interference patterns arising from these novel Dirac fermions, and reveal their electronic structure, including the linear dispersions. Our data, in agreement with our theoretical calculations, uncover further interesting features of the Weyl semimetal NbPs already exotic surface. Moreover, we discuss the similarities and distinctions between the Dirac fermions here and those in topological crystalline insulators in terms of symmetry protection and topology.

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• Fermi-arc diversity on surface terminations of the magnetic Weyl semimetal Co3Sn2S2
• Light control with Weyl semimetals
• Quantum Transport in Topological Semimetals under Magnetic Fields
• Probing topological quantum matter with scanning tunnelling microscopy
• Quasiparticle interference on type-I and type-II Weyl semimetal surfaces: a review
• Towards Weyltronics: Realization of epitaxial NbP and TaP Weyl Semimetal thin films
• Alloy engineering of topological semimetal phase transition in MgTa${}_{2-x}$Nb${}_x$N${}_3$
• Quantum Transport in Topological Semimetals under Magnetic Fields (II)
• Non-Hermitian Weyl semimetal and its Floquet engineering
• Effect of uniaxial stress on the electronic band structure of NbP
• Symmetry driven topological phases in XAgBi (X=Ba,Sr): An Ab-initio hybrid functional calculations
• Linear Response in Topological Materials