Experimental observation of topological Fermi arcs in type-II Weyl semimetal MoTe2

Observations of topological surface states provide strong evidence that MoTe2 is a type-II Weyl semimetal, hosting Weyl fermions that have no counterpart in high-energy physics. Weyl semimetal is a new quantum state of matter1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 hosting the condensed matter physics counterpart of the relativistic Weyl fermions13 originally introduced in high-energy physics. The Weyl semimetal phase realized in the TaAs class of materials features multiple Fermi arcs arising from topological surface states10,11,14,15,16 and exhibits novel quantum phenomena, such as a chiral anomaly-induced negative magnetoresistance17,18,19 and possibly emergent supersymmetry20. Recently it was proposed theoretically that a new type (type-II) of Weyl fermion21,22 that arises due to the breaking of Lorentz invariance, which does not have a counterpart in high-energy physics, can emerge as topologically protected touching between electron and hole pockets. Here, we report direct experimental evidence of topological Fermi arcs in the predicted type-II Weyl semimetal MoTe2 (refs 23,24,25). The topological surface states are confirmed by directly observing the surface states using bulk- and surface-sensitive angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, and the quasi-particle interference pattern between the putative topological Fermi arcs in scanning tunnelling microscopy. By establishing MoTe2 as an experimental realization of a type-II Weyl semimetal, our work opens up opportunities for probing the physical properties of this exciting new state.