Pressure-induced topological phase transitions and structural transition in 1T-TiTe2 single crystal

• Published in: Applied physics letters 2018-01, Vol.112 (4)
• Main Authors: Zhang, Min, Wang, Xiangqi, Rahman, Azizur, Zeng, Qunsong, Huang, Da, Dai, Rucheng, Wang, Zhongping, Zhang, Zengming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied physics; Crystal structure; Inversions; Phase transitions; Raman spectra; Raman spectroscopy; Single crystals; Topology
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5012842

High pressure in situ Raman scattering and electrical resistivity measurements were performed to investigate the phase transitions in a semimetal 1T-TiTe2 single crystal up to 17 GPa. Combining anomalous experimental results with the electronic band structures and Z2 topological invariants in calculations, two topological phase transitions and one structural phase transition were confirmed at 1.7 GPa, 3 GPa, and 8 GPa, respectively. These two topological transformations are due to the enhanced orbital hybridization followed by a few of band inversions near the Fermi level, and the further parity analysis manifested that the phases II and III correspond to a strong topological state and a weak topological state, respectively. The rich topology variation of 1T-TiTe2 under high pressure provides a potential candidate for understanding the relevant topology physics and probable applications. The current results also demonstrate that Raman spectroscopy and electrical transport measurements are efficient tools to detect the topological phase transition under high pressure.