Hosted by: Christopher Homes

Layered metallic transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are conventionally seen as two-dimensional conductors, despite a scarcity of systematic studies of the interlayer charge transport. Motivated by the prevailing strategy of functionalizing 2D materials by creating van der Waals heterostructures, we initiated an in-depth study of out-of-plane charge dynamics and emergent properties arising from interlayer coupling. Unprecedented results have been obtained thanks to employing Focused-ion-beam-assisted 3D microfabrication of samples, which enables tailoring geometry and current paths with submicron precision [1]. In this talk, I will present the first transport data revealing c-axis-oriented quasi-one- dimensional electronic states in 1T-TaS2, —a compound with the richest charge density wave phase diagram among TMDs. Temperature dependence of resistivity shows a robust coherent out-of-plane transport, while in-plane conduction is hindered by the presence of a unique nanoarray of charge density wave domains. Consequently, we interpret the highly debated metal-insulator transition in 1T-TaS2 as a Peierls-like instability of the c-axis-oriented orbital chains, in opposition to the long-standing Mott localization picture [2]. Among other highlights of our current research are the anomalous transport properties observed in natural heterostructures or arising from stacking faults. [1] Moll, P. J. (2018). Focused ion beam microstructuring of quantum matter. Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, 9, 147-162. [2] Martino, E., Pisoni, A., Ciric, L., Arakcheeva, A., Berger, H., Akrap, A., ... & Forró, L. (2019). Preferential out-of-plane conduction and quasi-one-dimensional electronic states in layered van der Waals material 1T-TaS2. arXiv preprint arXiv:1910.03817.