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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Low-temperature phase transition in polar semimetal Td−MoTe2 probed by nonreciprocal transport

Yuki M. Itahashi1, Yamato Nohara1, Toshiya Ideue1,*, Tomoki Akiba2, Hidefumi Takahashi2, Shintaro Ishiwata2, and Yoshihiro Iwasa1,3

  • 1Quantum-Phase Electronics Center (QPEC) and Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
  • 2Division of Materials Physics, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka 560-8531, Japan
  • 3RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS), Wako 351-0198, Japan

  • *ideue@ap.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L022022 – Published 2 May, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L022022

Abstract

We studied the nonreciprocal transport of layered MoTe2, which undergoes a structural transition from centrosymmetric to the noncentrosymetric polar phase. Careful inspections of the temperature-dependent resistance showed an occurrence of additional phase transition at around T*=50 K inside the noncentrosymmetric polar phase. We found that the nonreciprocal signal emerges below T*, associated with the filling of the hole pocket. The present result suggests that the mechanism of the nonreciprocal transport is significantly distinct from that in simple polar semiconductors but is highly sensitive to the small hole pocket buried in the major carriers in semimetals.

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Phys. Rev. Research 5, L022022– Published 2 May, 2023
  • Received 3 November 2022
  • Accepted 23 March 2023
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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