Phase engineered synthesis of metallic 1T’ MoTe₂ and semiconducting 2H MoTe₂

MoTe₂ is distinguished from other transition metal dichalcogenides by the existence of an exceptional metallic distorted octahedral structure (1T’) with a small energy difference from its semiconducting (2H) phase, providing the possibility to controllable synthesis of the both phases. Probing the phase engineered synthesis mechanism between these different phases may provide potential applications in large-scale logic circuit. By controlling the growth temperature, growth time and precursors’ pressures, we are able to synthesize millimeter-scale few-layer single-crystalline 2H MoTe₂. Combining the density functional theory calculation, dark field transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, the nucleation of 2H domains and phase transition from 1T’ to 2H during synthesis are studied, enabling the large-scale controllable synthesis of high-quality 1T’ and 2H MoTe₂ few-layers with less grain boundaries.