Topological Imbert-Fedorov Shift in Weyl Semimetals

Qing-Dong Jiang, Hua Jiang, Haiwen Liu, Qing-Feng Sun, and X. C. Xie
Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 156602 – Published 9 October 2015
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Abstract

The Goos-Hänchen (GH) shift and the Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shift are optical phenomena which describe the longitudinal and transverse lateral shifts at the reflection interface, respectively. Here, we predict the GH and IF shifts in Weyl semimetals (WSMs)—a promising material harboring low energy Weyl fermions, a massless fermionic cousin of photons. Our results show that the GH shift in WSMs is valley independent, which is analogous to that discovered in a 2D relativistic material—graphene. However, the IF shift has never been explored in nonoptical systems, and here we show that it is valley dependent. Furthermore, we find that the IF shift actually originates from the topological effect of the system. Experimentally, the topological IF shift can be utilized to characterize the Weyl semimetals, design valleytronic devices of high efficiency, and measure the Berry curvature.

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  • Received 22 January 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.156602

© 2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Qing-Dong Jiang1, Hua Jiang2, Haiwen Liu1,3, Qing-Feng Sun1,3,*, and X. C. Xie1,3,†

  • 1International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China
  • 2College of Physics, Optoelectronics and Energy, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, People’s Republic of China
  • 3Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China

  • *sunqf@pku.edu.cn
  • xcxie@pku.edu.cn

See Also

Chirality-Dependent Hall Effect in Weyl Semimetals

Shengyuan A. Yang, Hui Pan, and Fan Zhang
Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 156603 (2015)

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Vol. 115, Iss. 15 — 9 October 2015

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