Magneto-optical evidence of tilting effect in coupled Weyl bands

TL;DR

This study provides experimental magneto-optical evidence of the tilting effect in Weyl semimetals, revealing how tilting influences optical transitions and coupling between Weyl points in niobium phosphide.

Contribution

It combines magneto-infrared spectroscopy with a four-band model to identify and analyze the tilting effect in Weyl bands, which was previously less experimentally explored.

Findings

Observation of Landau level transitions affected by tilting

Detection of forbidden transitions due to tilting

Unconventional interband transitions with unique magnetic field dispersions

Abstract

Theories have revealed the universality of the band tilting effect in topological Weyl semimetals (WSMs) and its implications for the material's physical properties. However, the experimental identification of tilted Weyl bands remains much less explored. Here, by combining magneto-infrared optical studies with a four-band coupled Weyl point model, we report spectroscopic evidence of the tilting effect in the well-established WSM niobium phosphide. Specifically, we observe Landau level transitions with rich features that are well reproduced within a model of coupled tilted Weyl points. Our analysis indicates that the tilting effect relaxes the selection rules and gives rise to transitions that would otherwise be forbidden in the non-tilt case. Additionally, we observe unconventional interband transitions with flat and negative magnetic field dispersions, highlighting the importance of coupling between Weyl points. Our results not only emphasize the significance of the tilting effect in the optical responses of WSMs but also demonstrate magneto-optics as an effective tool for probing the tilting effect in electronic band structures.