Optical properties and electromagnetic modes of Weyl semimetals

Abstract

We present systematic theoretical studies of both bulk and surface electromagnetic eigenmodes, or polaritons, in Weyl semimetals in the minimal model of two bands with two separated Weyl nodes. We derive the tensors of bulk and surface conductivity taking into account all possible combinations of the optical transitions involving bulk and surface electron states. We show how information about electronic structure of Weyl semimetals, such as the position and separation of Weyl nodes, Fermi energy, and Fermi arc surface states, can be unambiguously extracted from measurements of the dispersion, transmission, reflection, and polarization of electromagnetic waves.