Quantum oscillations from surface Fermi arcs in Weyl and Dirac semimetals
Open accessAbstract
In a magnetic field, electrons in metals repeatedly traverse closed magnetic orbits around the Fermi surface. The resulting oscillations in the density of states enable powerful experimental techniques for measuring a metal’s Fermi surface structure. On the other hand, the surface states of Weyl semimetals consist of disjoint, open Fermi arcs raising the question of whether they can be observed by standard quantum oscillatory techniques. Here, we find that the open Fermi arcs participate in unusual closed magnetic orbits by traversing the bulk of the sample to connect opposite surfaces. These orbits have anomalous features that are impossible for conventional surface states, and result in quantum oscillations that contain observable signatures of the topological character of the bulk Weyl semimetal. We also apply our predictions to the compounds Cd3As2 and Na3Bi that were recently proposed to be three-dimensional Dirac (doubled Weyl) semimetals, and propose experimental signatures of their possible Fermi arc states. Unlike metals, Weyl and Dirac semimetals possess open discontinuous Fermi surfaces. Here, Potter et al.show how such materials may still exhibit characteristic electronic oscillations under applied magnetic fields via bulk tunnelling between Fermi arcs and predict their experimental signatures.
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Fermi arcs lead to unusual quantum cyclotron orbits (Weyl orbits) as observed in quantum oscillation measurements.
“The Fermi arcs also lead to unusual quantum cyclotron orbits (the Weyl orbits) as observed in quantum oscillation measurements (43,44).”
From Transport of Topological Semimetals (2019) · cites this paper as [43]
The Abstract describes unusual closed magnetic orbits involving Fermi arcs, and the Quantum oscillations section predicts that they produce periodic oscillations. The paper presents semiclassical analysis and numerical simulation, not an observation in quantum oscillation measurements; the Discussion calls the signatures experimentally testable. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSuch an unconventional Weyl orbit manifests as an additional frequency in quantum oscillations with 2D character, verifiable by the field orientation dependence of oscillation frequency (F ∝ 1/cos θ).
“Such an unconventional Weyl orbit manifests itself by an additional frequency in quantum oscillations (Figure 4e,f ), with 2D character that can be verified by the measurement of the field orientation dependence of oscillation frequency (i.e., F ∝ 1/ cos θ ).”
From Transport of Topological Semimetals (2019) · cites this paper as [43]
Under magnetic fields, electrons can transport on a cyclotron orbit that connects one surface Fermi arc to the opposite Fermi arc by coupling to bulk states.
“It has been predicted that under magnetic fields, electrons can transport on a cyclotron orbit that connects one surface Fermi arc to the opposite Fermi arc by coupling to bulk states (Figure 4d) (43,260).”
From Transport of Topological Semimetals (2019) · cites this paper as [43]
Potter et al. proposed a unique form of quantum oscillations in WSMs involving hybrid motion of electrons through half an orbit on the surface via a Fermi arc, transport through the bulk to the bottom surface, half an orbit on the other surface via the other Fermi arc, and then transport back.
“As discussed in Sec. II.C.5, Potter et al. , 2014 proposed a unique form of quantum oscillations in WSMs that involves the hybrid motion of electrons through half an orbit on the surface via a Fermi arc, transport through the bulk to the bottom surface, half an orbit on the other surface via the other Fermi arc, and then transport back to the beginning of the arc on the top surface.”
From Weyl and Dirac semimetals in three-dimensional solids (2018) · cites this paper as Potter et al., 2014
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“C.5, Potter et al., 2014 proposed a unique form of quantum oscillations in WSMs that involves the hybrid motion of electrons through half an orbit on the surface via a Fermi arc, transport through the bulk to the bottom surface, half an orbit on the other surface via the other Fermi arc, and then…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citation
- Authors
- Potter, A. C., Kimchi, I., & Vishwanath, A.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Potter, Andrew C.
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2014-10-20
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5161-5161
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2125024933
- Semantic Scholar
- 6440f3e28a7b4272ad4719b12b1fd14e1ef4895b
- Cited by
- 558
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 61 · 2016: 67 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 27.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (1206728)
- Division of Materials Research
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › 2D Materials and Applications
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Condensed Matter Physics › Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
- Keywords
- Fermi arcs, Weyl semimetals, Dirac semimetal, quantum oscillations, Shubnikov-de Haas effect, surface states, topological semimetals, Cd3As2, Na3Bi
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