Atomic Scale Visualization of Quantum Interference on a Weyl Semimetal Surface by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy/Spectroscopy

Understand

Weyl semimetals may open a new era in condensed matter physics, materials science and nanotech after graphene and topological insulators.

• We report the first atomic scale view of the surface states of a Weyl semimetal (NbP) using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy.
• We observe coherent quantum interference patterns that arise from the scattering of quasiparticles near point defects on the surface.
• The measurements reveal the surface electronic structure both below and above the chemical potential in both real and reciprocal spaces.