Sub-picosecond photo-induced displacive phase transition in two-dimensional MoTe${}_2$

Abstract

Photo-induced phase transitions (PIPTs) provide an ultrafast, energy-efficient way for precisely manipulating the topological properties of transition-metal ditellurides, and can be used to stabilize a topological phase in an otherwise semiconducting material. Using first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that the PIPT in monolayer MoTe${}_2$ from the semiconducting 2H phase to the topological 1T${}^{\prime }$ phase can be triggered purely by electronic excitations that soften multiple lattice vibrational modes. These softenings, driven by a Peierls-like mechanism within the conduction bands, lead to structural symmetry breaking within sub-picosecond timescales, which is shorter than the timescale of a thermally driven phase transition. The transition is predicted to be triggered by photons with energies over $1.96$\,eV, with an associated excited carrier density of $3.4\times 10^{14}$\,cm${}^{-2}$, which enables a controllable phase transformation by varying the laser wavelength. Our results provide insight into the underlying physics of the phase transition in 2D transition-metal ditellurides, and show an ultrafast phase transition mechanism for manipulation of the topological properties of 2D systems.

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• Intrinsic 1T' phase induced in atomically thin 2H-MoTe${}_2$ by a single terahertz pulse
• Light-tunable charge density wave orders in MoTe2 and WTe2 single layers
• Ultrafast formation of transient 2D diamond-like structure in twisted bilayer graphene
• Tunable photostriction of halide perovskites through energy dependent photoexcitation
• Photo-induced Tellurium segregation in $\mathrm{MoT}{\mathrm{e}}_2$
• Monolayer C${}_{60}$ networks: A first-principles perspective
• Structural phase transition in monolayer gold(I) telluride: From a room-temperature topologicalinsulator to an auxetic semiconductor
• C${}_{60}$ building blocks with tuneable structures for tailored functionalities
• Anomalous circular phonon dichroism in transition metal dichalcogenides
• Research on topological materials using ultrafast spectroscopy
• Direct measurement of photoinduced transient conducting state in multilayer 2H-MoTe2
• Terahertz Optics Driven Phase Transition in Two-Dimensional Multiferroics