Raman signatures of inversion symmetry breaking and structural phase transition in type-II Weyl semimetal MoTe2

Kenan Zhang, Changhua Bao, Qiangqiang Gu, Xiao Ren, Haoxiong Zhang, Ke Deng, Yang Wu (), Yuan Li, Ji Feng and Shuyun Zhou ()
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Kenan Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics
Changhua Bao: State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics
Qiangqiang Gu: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University
Xiao Ren: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University
Haoxiong Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics
Ke Deng: State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics
Yang Wu: State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics
Yuan Li: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University
Ji Feng: International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University
Shuyun Zhou: State Key Laboratory of Low Dimensional Quantum Physics

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Transition metal dichalcogenide MoTe2 is an important candidate for realizing the newly predicted type-II Weyl fermions, for which the breaking of the inversion symmetry is a prerequisite. Here we present direct spectroscopic evidence for the inversion symmetry breaking in the low-temperature phase of MoTe2 by systematic Raman experiments and first-principles calculations. We identify five lattice vibrational modes that are Raman-active only in the low-temperature noncentrosymmetric structure. A hysteresis is also observed in the peak intensity of inversion symmetry-activated Raman modes, confirming a temperature-induced structural phase transition with a concomitant change in the inversion symmetry. Our results provide definitive evidence for the low-temperature noncentrosymmetric Td phase from vibrational spectroscopy, and suggest MoTe2 as an ideal candidate for investigating the temperature-induced topological phase transition.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13552

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