Anisotropic conductivity in monolayer WTe<sub>2</sub>
ORAL
Abstract
The layered semimetal WTe2 behaves in the monolayer limit as a topological insulator but the nature of the insulating state in the interior bulk is unclear. We study its conductivity as a function of gate doping, temperature, and current direction. Care is needed to eliminate helical edge conduction from the measurements, including along cracks, which we locate by microwave impedance microscopy. The conductivity is found to be highly anisotropic for hole doping and much less so for electron doping. Surprisingly, for hole doping the conductivity is about three times lower along the a-axis, the direction of the tungsten chains, than along the b-axis, perpendicular to the chains. We consider the implications of this observation for the possibility that the state is a kind of excitonic insulator.
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Presenters
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Bosong Sun
University of Washington
Authors
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Bosong Sun
University of Washington
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Paul Malinowski
University of Washington
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Zaiyao Fei
University of Washington, Physics, University of Washington
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Wenjin Zhao
University of Washington
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Tauno Palomaki
Sandia National Laboratory
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Xiong Huang
University of California, Riverside, University of California, Reverside
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Elliott Runburg
University of Washington
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Yongtao Cui
University of California, Riverside, University of California, Reverside
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Jiun-Haw Chu
University of Washington, Department of Physics, University of Washington, Physics, University of Washington
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Xiaodong Xu
University of Washington, Physics, University of Washington
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David Cobden
University of Washington, Physics, University of Washington