Influence of Topology on the Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics in MoTe2

Abstract

Transport properties of Weyl semimetals are intimately connected to the underlying band structure. The signature of Weyl semimetals are linear dispersing bands that touch, forming Weyl points that result in high charge carrier mobilities. The layered transition metal dichalcogenide MoTe2, undergoes a temperature dependent phase transition that directly converts the trivial 1Tprime phase to the nontrivial Td phase, providing an opportunity to understand how the formation of a Weyl point manifests in the ultrafast carrier dynamics. In this study, we use resonant X-ray photoemission to monitor the element specific evolution of excited carriers 1Tprime-MoTe2 and in the vicinity of the Weyl point in Td-MoTe2. We find that the delocalization time of 1Tprime-MoTe2 is a factor 1.5 times faster than in Td-MoTe2. We argue that this is a result of the change in the density of states and screening length, to a higher carrier scattering rate in Td-MoTe2. Our study tracks the fate of carriers in MoTe2 on sub-fs time-scales and with atomic site specificity.