Journal Article

Optical signatures of Dirac nodal lines in NbAs2

Xu, Chenchao, Breindel, Alexander J., Chou, Fangcheng, Wang, Ying, Millis, Andrew J., Timusk, Thomas, Basov, D. N., Sankar, Raman, Maple, M. Brian, Li, Zhiqiang, Fogler, Michael M., Sun, Zhiyuan, Shao, Yinming, Cao, Chao

2019

Overview

SignificanceThe 3D nodal points in Dirac and/or Weyl semimetals are in the vanguard of quantum materials research. A hallmark of these systems is the linear band dispersion. This latter electronic stricture gives rise to unconventional transport and optical phenomena. Here, we demonstrate that solids with dispersive nodal lines in the electronic structure share many common aspects with the response of 3D nodal-points systems. We investigated NbAs2 using a combination of optical and magneto-optical techniques and have identified electromagnetic signature of dispersive nodal lines. This particular compound has allowed us to inquire the impact of spin-orbit coupling on the universal characteristic of nodal metals. Using polarized optical and magneto-optical spectroscopy, we have demonstrated universal aspects of electrodynamics associated with Dirac nodal lines that are found in several classes of unconventional intermetallic compounds. We investigated anisotropic electrodynamics of NbAs2 where the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) triggers energy gaps along the nodal lines. These gaps manifest as sharp steps in the optical conductivity spectra σ1(ω). This behavior is followed by the linear power-law scaling of σ1(ω) at higher frequencies, consistent with our theoretical analysis for dispersive Dirac nodal lines. Magneto-optics data affirm the dominant role of nodal lines in the electrodynamics of NbAs2.

• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
• Subject: Physical Sciences / Physics