[HTML][HTML] Lorentz-violating type-II Dirac fermions in transition metal dichalcogenide PtTe2

M Yan, H Huang, K Zhang, E Wang, W Yao…�- Nature�…, 2017 - nature.com
M Yan, H Huang, K Zhang, E Wang, W Yao, K Deng, G Wan, H Zhang, M Arita, H Yang
Nature Communications, 2017nature.com
Topological semimetals have recently attracted extensive research interests as host
materials to condensed matter physics counterparts of Dirac and Weyl fermions originally
proposed in high energy physics. Although Lorentz invariance is required in high energy
physics, it is not necessarily obeyed in condensed matter physics, and thus Lorentz-violating
type-II Weyl/Dirac fermions could be realized in topological semimetals. The recent
realization of type-II Weyl fermions raises the question whether their spin-degenerate�…
Abstract
Topological semimetals have recently attracted extensive research interests as host materials to condensed matter physics counterparts of Dirac and Weyl fermions originally proposed in high energy physics. Although Lorentz invariance is required in high energy physics, it is not necessarily obeyed in condensed matter physics, and thus Lorentz-violating type-II Weyl/Dirac fermions could be realized in topological semimetals. The recent realization of type-II Weyl fermions raises the question whether their spin-degenerate counterpart—type-II Dirac fermions—can be experimentally realized too. Here, we report the experimental evidence of type-II Dirac fermions in bulk stoichiometric PtTe2 single crystal. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and first-principles calculations reveal a pair of strongly tilted Dirac cones along the Γ-A direction, confirming PtTe2 as a type-II Dirac semimetal. Our results provide opportunities for investigating novel quantum phenomena (e.g., anisotropic magneto-transport) and topological phase transition.
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