Tuning magnetotransport in a compensated semimetal at the atomic scale

Lin Wang, Ignacio Gutiérrez-Lezama, Céline Barreteau, Nicolas Ubrig, Enrico Giannini and Alberto F. Morpurgo ()
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Lin Wang: Universite de Geneva
Ignacio Gutiérrez-Lezama: Universite de Geneva
Céline Barreteau: Universite de Geneva
Nicolas Ubrig: Universite de Geneva
Enrico Giannini: Universite de Geneva
Alberto F. Morpurgo: Universite de Geneva

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Either in bulk form, or in atomically thin crystals, layered transition metal dichalcogenides continuously reveal new phenomena. The latest example is 1T’-WTe2, a semimetal found to exhibit the largest known magnetoresistance in the bulk, and predicted to become a topological insulator in strained monolayers. Here we show that reducing the thickness through exfoliation enables the electronic properties of WTe2 to be tuned, which allows us to identify the mechanisms responsible for the observed magnetotransport down to the atomic scale. The longitudinal resistance and the unconventional magnetic field dependence of the Hall resistance are reproduced quantitatively by a classical two-band model for crystals as thin as six monolayers, whereas a crossover to an Anderson insulator occurs for thinner crystals. Besides establishing the origin of the magnetoresistance of WTe2, our results represent a complete validation of the classical theory for two-band electron-hole transport, and indicate that atomically thin WTe2 layers remain gapless semimetals.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9892

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