Electronic structure in a transition metal dipnictide TaAs₂

The family of transition-metal dipnictides has been of theoretical and experimental interest because this family hosts topological states and extremely large magnetoresistance (MR). Recently,TaAs2, a member of this family, has been predicted to support a topological crystalline insulating state. Here, by using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we reveal both closed and open pockets in the metallic Fermi surface (FS) and linearly dispersive bands on the (2‾01) surface, along with the presence of extreme MR observed from magneto-transport measurements. A comparison of the ARPES results with first-principles computations shows that the linearly dispersive bands on the measured surface ofTaAs2are trivial bulk bands. The absence of symmetry-protected surface state on the (2‾01) surface indicates its topologically dark nature. The presence of open FS features suggests that the open-orbit fermiology could contribute to the extremely large MR ofTaAs2.