Enhanced ultrafast relaxation rate in the Weyl semimetal phase of 𝐌𝐨𝐓𝐞_2 measured by time-and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

MoTe_2 has recently been shown to realize in its low-temperature phase the type-II Weyl semimetal (WSM). We investigated by time- and angle- resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (tr-ARPES) the possible influence of the Weyl points in the electron dynamics above the Fermi level E_F, by comparing the ultrafast response of MoTe_2 in the trivial and topological phases. In the low-temperature WSM phase, we report an enhanced relaxation rate of electrons optically excited to the conduction band, which we interpret as a fingerprint of the local gap closure when Weyl points form. By contrast, we find that the electron dynamics of the related compound WTe_2 is slower and temperature-independent, consistent with a topologically trivial nature of this material. Our results shows that tr-ARPES is sensitive to the small modifications of the unoccupied band structure accompanying the structural and topological phase transition of MoTe_2.