English

Ferroelectrically Controlled Chirality Switching of Weyl Quasiparticles

Materials Science 2025-11-19 v2 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

Abstract

Weyl quasiparticles, as gapless low-energy excitations with nontrivial chirality, have garnered extensive interest in recent years. However, archieving effective and reversible control over their chirality (topological charge) remains a major challeng due to topological protection. In this work, we propose a ferroelectric mechanism to switch the chirality of Weyl phonons, where the reversal of ferroelectric polarization is intrinsically coupled to a simultaneous reversal of the chirality of Weyl points. This enables electric-field-driven control over the topological properties of phonon excitations. Through a comprehensive symmetry analysis of polar space groups, we identify 27 groups capable of hosting symmetry-protected Weyl phonons with chiral charges C=1C = 1, 22, and 33, whose chirality can be reversed via polarization switching. The first-principles calculations are performed to screen feasible material candidates for each type of chirality, yielding a set of prototypical ferroelectric compounds that realize the proposed mechanism. As a representative example, K2_2ZnBr4_4 hosts the minimal configuration of two pairs of Weyl phonons. Upon polarization reversal, the chirality of all Weyl points is inverted, accompanied by a reversal of associated topological features such as Berry curvature and surface arcs. These findings provide a viable pathway for dynamic, electrical control of topological band crossings and open new avenues for chirality-based phononic applications.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.04826,
  title  = {Ferroelectrically Controlled Chirality Switching of Weyl Quasiparticles},
  author = {Zeling Li and Yu liu and Le Du and Fengyu Li and Zhifeng Liu and Lei Li and Lei Wang and Botao Fu and Xiao-Ping Li},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.04826},
  year   = {2025}
}