Uniaxial pressure effect on MoTe2

Quasi-two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide MoTe₂ has attracted considerable interest as a candidate Weyl semimetal, emerging upon cooling from the monoclinic 1T′ phase to the orthorhombic Td phase, and for its pronounced magnetoresistance. The transition temperature between these phases can be tuned through chemical substitution (e.g., Mo → W) or by applying external pressure/strain. Previous studies show that hydrostatic pressure suppresses the structural transition temperature, while tensile strain along the a- and b-axes decreases and increases it, respectively. In this work, we explore the influence of compressive strain along c-axis on MoTe₂ using diffraction techniques. Given its much greater compressibility along the c-axis compared to the a- or b-axes, uniaxial stress along the c-axis may be especially relevant to interlayer interactions that govern the 1T′ ↔ Td transition. Our study shows an increase in diffuse scattering between Bragg peaks as a function of uniaxial pressure. We present neutron diffraction measurements of MoTe₂ under uniaxial c-axis pressure, focusing on the resulting structural responses and their implications for phase stability.