Topological semimetals with helicoid surface states

Abstract

We show that the surface dispersions of topological semimetals map to helicoidal structures, where the bulk nodal points project to the branch points of the helicoids whose equal-energy contours are Fermi arcs. This mapping is demonstrated in the recently discovered Weyl semimetals and leads us to predict new types of topological semimetals, whose surface states are represented by double- and quad-helicoid surfaces. Each helicoid or multi-helicoid is shown to be the non-compact Riemann surface representing a multi-valued holomorphic function (generating function). The intersection of multiple helicoids, or the branch cut of the generating function, appears on high-symmetry lines in the surface Brillouin zone, where surface states are guaranteed to be doubly degenerate by a glide reflection symmetry. We predict the heterostructure superlattice [(SrIrO[subscript 3])[subscript 2](CaIrO[subscript 3])[subscript 2]] to be a topological semimetal with double-helicoid surface states.