The semimetal MoTe2 is studied by spin- and angle- resolved photoemission spectroscopy to probe the detailed electronic structure underlying its broad range of response behavior. A novel spin-texture is uncovered in the bulk Fermi surface of the non-centrosymmetric structural phase that is consistent with first-principles calculations. The spin-texture is three-dimensional, both in terms of momentum dependence and spin-orientation, and is not completely suppressed above the centrosymmetry-breaking transition temperature. Two types of surface Fermi arc are found to persist well above the transition temperature. The appearance of a large Fermi arc depends strongly on thermal history, and the electron quasiparticle lifetimes are greatly enhanced in the initial cooling. The results indicate that polar instability with strong electron-lattice interactions exists near the surface when the bulk is largely in a centrosymmetric phase.
@article{arxiv.1807.00339,
title = {Spin-resolved electronic response to the phase transition in MoTe$_2$},
author = {Andrew P. Weber and Philipp Rüßmann and Nan Xu and Stefan Muff and Mauro Fanciulli and Arnaud Magrez and Philippe Bugnon and Helmuth Berger and Nicholas C. Plumb and Ming Shi and Stefan Blügel and Phivos Mavropoulos and J. Hugo Dil},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1807.00339},
year = {2018}
}