RAC1 Journal Club/Seminar Series

Tarun Patel: Photocurrent imaging of charge density wave transitions in ultrathin 1T-TaS2  

1T-TaS2 is a layered van-der Waals material which shows multiple charge density wave (CDW) transitions as a function of temperature. Ultrathin flakes fabricated by mechanical exfoliation and protected from oxidation with h-BN capping in inert atmosphere have been shown to retain these transitions. We aim to use scanning photocurrent microscopy to image the nearly commensurate/commensurate charge density wave transition in 1T- TaS2. We study the effect of dimensionality and in-plane current on the first-order phase transition with spatial resolution within the diffraction limit.