Robust Weyl points in a 1D superlattice with transverse spin-orbit coupling

Abstract

Weyl points, synthetic magnetic monopoles in the 3D momentum space, are the key features of topological Weyl semimetals. The observation of Weyl points in ultracold atomic gases usually relies on the realization of high-dimensional spin-orbit coupling (SOC) for two pseudospin states (% \textit{i.e.,} spin-1/2), which requires complex laser configurations and precise control of laser parameters, thus has not been realized in experiment. Here we propose that robust Wely points can be realized using 1D triple-well superlattices (spin-1/three-band systems) with 2D transverse SOC achieved by Raman-assisted tunnelings. The presence of the third band is responsible to the robustness of the Weyl points against system parameters (e.g., Raman laser polarization, phase, incident angle, etc.). Different from a spin-1/2 system, the non-trivial topology of Weyl points in such spin-1 system is characterized by both the spin vector and tensor textures, which can be probed using momentum-resolved Rabi spectroscopy. Our proposal provides a simple yet powerful platform for exploring Weyl physics and related high-dimensional topological phenomena using high pseudospin ultracold atoms.