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Chirality locking charge density waves in a chiral crystal

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan (China); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  3. Renmin University of China, Beijing (China)
  4. Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
  5. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan (China)
+ Show Author Affiliations
In Weyl semimetals, charge density wave (CDW) order can spontaneously break the chiral symmetry, gap out the Weyl nodes, and drive the material into the axion insulating phase. Investigations have however been limited since CDWs are rarely seen in Weyl semimetals. Here, using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S), we report the discovery of a novel unidirectional CDW order on the (001) surface of chiral crystal CoSi – a unique Weyl semimetal with unconventional chiral fermions. The CDW is incommensurate with both lattice momentum and crystalline symmetry directions, and exhibits an intra unit cell π phase shift in the layer stacking direction. The tunneling spectrum shows a particle-hole asymmetric V-shaped energy gap around the Fermi level that modulates spatially with the CDW wave vector. Combined with first-principle calculations, we identify that the CDW is locked to the crystal chirality and is related by a mirror reflection between the two enantiomers of the chiral crystal. Our findings reveal a novel correlated topological quantum state in chiral CoSi crystals and raise the potential for exploring the unprecedented physical behaviors of unconventional chiral fermions.
Research Organization:
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Beijing Natural Science Foundation; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Ministry of Science and Technology of China; National Natural Science Foundation of China; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-99ER45747
OSTI ID:
1904568
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 13; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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