Strain-Driven Metal-to-Insulator Transition and Ferroelectricity in WTe.

WTe2, a two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) material, has gained attention for its potential to exhibit out-of-plane ferroelectricity. However, as a semimetal, WTe2 requires an insulating phase for polarization to be meaningful. In this study, we investigate the effects of mechanical strain on WTe2...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters Vol. 102; pp. 383 - 385
Autores principales: Richins, Ross, Qiu, Shao
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193377513&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 193377513
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid: B0JA
      jtl: Journal of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: 2025
      vid: 102
      pid: 59066
      pub: Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters
    artinfo:
      ui: 193377513
      ppf: 383
      ppct: 2
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
            size: 542KB
      tig:
        atl: Strain-Driven Metal-to-Insulator Transition and Ferroelectricity in WTe.
      aug:
        au:
          Richins, Ross
          Qiu, Shao
        affil: Southern Utah University.
      su:
        Metal-insulator transitions
        Ferroelectricity
        Density functional theory
        Two-dimensional materials (Nanotechnology)
        Bilayers (Solid state physics)
        Phase transitions
        Tungsten
      sug:
        subj:
          All Other Metal Ore Mining
          Metal-insulator transitions
          Ferroelectricity
          Density functional theory
          Two-dimensional materials (Nanotechnology)
          Bilayers (Solid state physics)
          Phase transitions
          Tungsten
      ab: WTe2, a two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) material, has gained attention for its potential to exhibit out-of-plane ferroelectricity. However, as a semimetal, WTe2 requires an insulating phase for polarization to be meaningful. In this study, we investigate the effects of mechanical strain on WTe2 to induce a transition from semimetallic to insulating behavior, which is crucial for sustaining spontaneous polarization. Using density functional theory, we apply biaxial strain to the WTe2 system, focusing on altering the lattice constants in both the a and b-axes. So far, our efforts in the bulk system have not successfully opened a band gap, a necessary condition for ferroelectric behavior. Without an insulating phase, studying meaningful polarization becomes challenging. To address this, we have shifted our focus to a bilayer WTe2 system. Our ongoing work involves applying strain to this reduced system, with the hope of inducing a band gap. Achieving an insulating state in the bilayer system could pave the way for investigating out-ofplane polarization, as well as polarization switching mechanisms through interlayer sliding, which is characteristic of vdW materials. Our next steps involve continuing strain analysis in the bilayer system and performing Berry phase calculations to quantify polarization in the insulating phase. The ultimate goal is to identify conditions under which WTe2 becomes ferroelectric, thereby advancing the potential for 2D ferroelectric materials in nanoscale electronic and memory devices.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N