Optical investigation of the electronic structure of a ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal CeAlSi

Abstract

To investigate electronic states during the ferromagnetic transition in a magnetic Weyl semimetal CeAlSi, we measured temperature-dependent optical conductivity [$σ_1(ω)$] spectra and compared them with DFT+DMFT band calculations. The $σ_1(ω)$ spectrum did not change significantly across the ferromagnetic ordering temperature ($T_C$), suggesting that the Ce 4f states are almost localized. DFT+DMFT calculations with almost localized Ce 4f states successfully reproduced the spectral shape and the unchanged $σ_1(ω)$ spectra across $T_C$. The dynamic effective mass evaluated from the extended Drude model is very small, which DFT+DMFT calculations also reproduce, but the scattering probability at even lower temperatures suggests ferromagnetic fluctuations. These results suggest that the interaction intensity between the Weyl fermions and Ce 4f states is very weak, as reproduced by DFT+DMFT calculations.