Momentum-space signatures of Berry flux monopoles in the Weyl semimetal TaAs

M. Ünzelmann, H. Bentmann (), T. Figgemeier, P. Eck, J. N. Neu, B. Geldiyev, F. Diekmann, S. Rohlf, J. Buck, M. Hoesch, M. Kalläne, K. Rossnagel, R. Thomale, T. Siegrist, G. Sangiovanni, D. Di Sante and F. Reinert
Additional contact information
M. Ünzelmann: Universität Würzburg
H. Bentmann: Universität Würzburg
T. Figgemeier: Universität Würzburg
P. Eck: Universität Würzburg
J. N. Neu: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
B. Geldiyev: Universität Würzburg
F. Diekmann: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
S. Rohlf: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
J. Buck: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
M. Hoesch: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
M. Kalläne: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
K. Rossnagel: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
R. Thomale: Universität Würzburg
T. Siegrist: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
G. Sangiovanni: Universität Würzburg
D. Di Sante: Universität Würzburg
F. Reinert: Universität Würzburg

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Since the early days of Dirac flux quantization, magnetic monopoles have been sought after as a potential corollary of quantized electric charge. As opposed to magnetic monopoles embedded into the theory of electromagnetism, Weyl semimetals (WSM) exhibit Berry flux monopoles in reciprocal parameter space. As a function of crystal momentum, such monopoles locate at the crossing point of spin-polarized bands forming the Weyl cone. Here, we report momentum-resolved spectroscopic signatures of Berry flux monopoles in TaAs as a paradigmatic WSM. We carried out angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy at bulk-sensitive soft X-ray energies (SX-ARPES) combined with photoelectron spin detection and circular dichroism. The experiments reveal large spin- and orbital-angular-momentum (SAM and OAM) polarizations of the Weyl-fermion states, resulting from the broken crystalline inversion symmetry in TaAs. Supported by first-principles calculations, our measurements image signatures of a topologically non-trivial winding of the OAM at the Weyl nodes and unveil a chirality-dependent SAM of the Weyl bands. Our results provide directly bulk-sensitive spectroscopic support for the non-trivial band topology in the WSM TaAs, promising to have profound implications for the study of quantum-geometric effects in solids.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23727-3

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