Handedness-dependent quasiparticle interference in the two enantiomers of the topological chiral semimetal PdGa

Paolo Sessi (), Feng-Ren Fan, Felix Küster, Kaustuv Manna, Niels B. M. Schröter, Jing-Rong Ji, Samuel Stolz, Jonas A. Krieger, Ding Pei, Timur K. Kim, Pavel Dudin, Cephise Cacho, Roland Widmer, Horst Borrmann, Wujun Shi, Kai Chang, Yan Sun, Claudia Felser and Stuart S. P. Parkin ()
Additional contact information
Paolo Sessi: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics
Feng-Ren Fan: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Felix Küster: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics
Kaustuv Manna: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Niels B. M. Schröter: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute
Jing-Rong Ji: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics
Samuel Stolz: EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Jonas A. Krieger: Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institute
Ding Pei: University of Oxford
Timur K. Kim: Diamond Light Source
Pavel Dudin: Diamond Light Source
Cephise Cacho: Diamond Light Source
Roland Widmer: EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
Horst Borrmann: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Wujun Shi: ShanghaiTech University
Kai Chang: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics
Yan Sun: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Claudia Felser: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Stuart S. P. Parkin: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract It has recently been proposed that combining chirality with topological band theory results in a totally new class of fermions. Understanding how these unconventional quasiparticles propagate and interact remains largely unexplored so far. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize the electronic properties of the prototypical chiral topological semimetal PdGa. We reveal chiral quantum interference patterns of opposite spiraling directions for the two PdGa enantiomers, a direct manifestation of the change of sign of their Chern number. Additionally, we demonstrate that PdGa remains topologically non-trivial over a large energy range, experimentally detecting Fermi arcs in an energy window of more than 1.6 eV that is symmetrically centered around the Fermi level. These results are a consequence of the deep connection between chirality in real and reciprocal space in this class of materials, and, thereby, establish PdGa as an ideal topological chiral semimetal.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17261-x

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