Elastic and electronic tuning of magnetoresistance in MoTe<sub>2</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29255802.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aao4949 and PMC identifier 5733108.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Quasi-two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit dramatic properties that may transform electronic and photonic devices. We report on how the anomalously large magnetoresistance (MR) observed under high magnetic field in MoTe<sub>2</sub>, a type II Weyl semimetal, can be reversibly controlled under tensile strain. The MR is enhanced by as much as ~30% at low temperatures and high magnetic fields when uniaxial strain is applied along the <i>a</i> crystallographic direction and reduced by about the same amount when strain is applied along the <i>b</i> direction. We show that the large in-plane electric anisotropy is coupled with the structural transition from the 1T' monoclinic to the T<sub>d</sub> orthorhombic Weyl phase. A shift of the T<sub>d</sub>-1T' phase boundary is achieved by minimal tensile strain. The sensitivity of the MR to tensile strain suggests the possibility of a nontrivial spin-orbital texture of the electron and hole pockets in the vicinity of Weyl points. Our ab initio calculations show a significant orbital mixing on the Fermi surface, which is modified by the tensile strains.