Global phase diagram of disordered higher-order Weyl semimetals
Zhiqiang Zhang, Bing-Lan Wu, Chui‐Zhen Chen, Hua Jiang
Abstract
We study the disorder-induced phase transition of higher-order Weyl semimetals (HOWSMs) and the fate of the topological features of disordered HOWSMs. We obtain a global phase diagram of HOWSMs utilizing the scaling theory of Anderson localization. Specifically, a phase transition from the Weyl semimetal (WSM) to the HOWSM is obtained, distinguishing the disordered HOWSMs from the traditional WSMs. Furthermore, we confirm the robustness of Weyl nodes for HOWSMs. Interestingly, the unique topological properties of HOWSMs show different behaviors: (i) the quantized quadrupole moment and the corresponding quantized charge of hinge states are fragile to weak disorder; (ii) the hinge states show moderate stability which enables the feasibility in experimental observation. Our study deepens the understanding of the topological nature of HOWSM and paves a possible way to its characterization in experiments.