Probing the electronic topological transitions of WTe2 under pressure using ultrafast spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study uses ultrafast spectroscopy to explore how pressure induces electronic topological transitions in WTe2, revealing changes in electron-phonon interactions and the emergence of Weyl points.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of pressure-induced electronic topological transitions and identifies a new type-II Weyl point in WTe2, supported by theoretical calculations.

Findings

Anomalous changes in electronic relaxation at specific pressures

Disappearance of shear mode coherent phonons above 3.5 GPa

Emergence of a new type-II Weyl point under pressure

Abstract

We investigate the nonequilibrium photocarrier dynamics of WTe2 under pressure using the optical pump-probe spectroscopy. The pressure dependences of the electronic relaxation manifest anomalous changes around 0.8, 3.5, and 6 GPa, indicating the abruptions in the electron-phonon interactions. In addition, the coherent phonon oscillations originating from shear mode suddenly disappears above 3.5 GPa, which marks the onset of Td-1T' structural phase transition. Supported by the theoretical calculation, we unveil the electronic topological transitions (ETTs), especially an emergence of a new type-II Weyl point for Td-WTe2 under pressure. Our work demonstrates a novel route to probe the ETTs under pressure.