Topological Semimetals

The field of topological semimetals (TSMs) which includes Dirac and Weyl semimetals, has grown rapidly in recent years. About a decade after the discovery of graphene, the first 3D analogs, or 3D Dirac semimetals, were discovered and reports of their ultra-high electronic mobility and extremely large magnetoresitance quickly followed. It took one year before the first Weyl semimetals, which contain the massless and chiral Weyl fermion, were found. Today, a wide range of TSMs are established, including Dirac, Weyl, nodal-line, new fermion and more complicated nodal link or nexus fermion materials. Besides their unusual transport properties, which are of interest for fundamental condensed matter physics, they also show a wide range of potential applications. These include computing-based and optical applications as well as applications in energy related fields.

In this special issue we focus on new developments in the field of TSMs. This includes the prediction of new types of TSMs, the development of new materials or metamaterials that are TSMs, magnetic TSMs and the exploration of their applications, including their potentials as catalysts, thermoelectrics or optical switches.

Topics covered include, but are not limited to:

Guest Editors

Leslie M. Schoop – Princeton University, USA

Robert Cava – Princeton University, USA

Xi Dai – Institute of Physics, CAS, China

Roni Ilan – Tel Aviv University, Israel