Dirac-Weyl semimetal in photonic metacrystals

Abstract

Dirac-Weyl semimetal is a novel type of topological phase that features the coexistence of Dirac and Weyl points in momentum space. In this study, a photonic Dirac-Weyl semimetal is proposed by introducing screw rotation symmetries into a spatial inversion symmetry-lacking system. A realistic metacrystal structure is designed for experimental consideration. The screw rotation symmetries are crucial for the existence of Dirac points, whose Z₂ topology is revealed by the (010) surface states. Meanwhile, two pairs of ideal Weyl points at the same frequency are protected by D_2d point group symmetries. The Dirac points and Weyl points reside in a clean frequency interval. The proposed photonic Dirac-Weyl semimetal provides a versatile platform for exploring the interaction between Dirac and Weyl semimetals and exploiting possible photonic topological devices.