Hysteretic electronic phase transitions in correlated charge density wave state of 1T−TaS2

Abstract

The layered transition metal dichalcogenide $1T\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{TaS}}_{2}$ has evoked great interest owing to its particularly rich electronic phase diagram including different charge density wave (CDW) phases. However, few studies have focused on its hysteretic electronic phase transitions based on the in-depth discussion of the delicate interplay among temperature-dependent electronic interactions. Here, we report a sequence of spatial electronic phase transitions in the hysteresis temperature range (160--230 K) of $1T\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{TaS}}_{2}$ via variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. Several emergent electronic states are investigated at multiscale during the commensurate CDW--triclinic CDW (CCDW-TCDW) phase transitions: a spotty-CDW state above $\ensuremath{\sim}160\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, a network-CDW (NCDW) state above $\ensuremath{\sim}180\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ during the warmup process, a belt-TCDW state below $\ensuremath{\sim}230\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, a NCDW state below $\ensuremath{\sim}200\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, and finally a mosaic-CDW state below $\ensuremath{\sim}160\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ during cooldown from the TCDW phase. These emergent electronic states are associated with the delicate temperature-dependent competition and/or cooperation of stacking-dependent interlayer interactions, intralayer electron-electron correlations, and electron-phonon ($e\text{\ensuremath{-}}ph$) coupling of $1T\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{TaS}}_{2}$. Our results not only provide insight to understand the hysteretic electronic phase transitions in the correlated CDW state, but also pave a way to realize more exotic quantum states by accurately and effectively tuning various interior interactions in correlated materials.