Broadband infrared study of pressure-tunable Fano resonance and metallization transition in 2H- $$\hbox {MoTe}_2$$ MoTe 2

Abstract

Abstract High pressure is a proven effective tool for modulating inter-layer interactions in semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides, which leads to significant band structure changes. Here, we present an extended infrared study of the pressure-induced semiconductor-to-metal transition in 2H- $$\hbox {MoTe}_2$$ MoTe 2 , which reveals that the metallization process at 13–15 GPa is not associated with the indirect band-gap closure, occurring at 24 GPa. A coherent picture is drawn where n-type doping levels just below the conduction band minimum play a crucial role in the early metallization transition. Doping levels are also responsible for the asymmetric Fano line-shape of the $$\hbox {E}_{1u}$$ E 1 u infrared-active mode, which has been here detected and analyzed for the first time in a transition metal dichalcogenide compound. The pressure evolution of the phonon profile under pressure shows a symmetrization in the 13–15 GPa pressure range, which occurs simultaneously with the metallization and confirms the scenario proposed for the high pressure behaviour of 2H- $$\hbox {MoTe}_2$$ MoTe 2 .