1Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 2Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Tulane University, Louisiana 70118, USA 3General Course Department, Military Transportation University, Tianjin 300161 4Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 5School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 6Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871
Abstract：WTe$_2$ has attracted a great deal of attention because it exhibits extremely large and non-saturating magnetoresistance. The underlying origin of such a giant magnetoresistance is still under debate. Utilizing laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with high energy and momentum resolutions, we reveal the complete electronic structure of WTe$_2$. This makes it possible to determine accurately the electron and hole concentrations and their temperature dependence. We find that, with increasing the temperature, the overall electron concentration increases while the total hole concentration decreases. It indicates that the electron-hole compensation, if it exists, can only occur in a narrow temperature range, and in most of the temperature range there is an electron-hole imbalance. Our results are not consistent with the perfect electron-hole compensation picture that is commonly considered to be the cause of the unusual magnetoresistance in WTe$_2$. We identify a flat band near the Brillouin zone center that is close to the Fermi level and exhibits a pronounced temperature dependence. Such a flat band can play an important role in dictating the transport properties of WTe$_2$. Our results provide new insight on understanding the origin of the unusual magnetoresistance in WTe$_2$.
2017, Vol. 34 
