Connecting Defects to Functional Properties in WTe2

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit novel electrical properties, tuned by increasingly complex structures, with WTe2 being one of the most intricate. Although its electronic properties have been studied for 50 years, WTe2 received increased attention only after the discovery of extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) in 2014.1,3 In the following years, other unique responses arising from its topological properties have been explored, but debates persist as the crystal’s bends, strains, and defects can dramatically alter its electronics.1 This proposal aims to study extended defects in WTe2 that affect its functional properties. Using the multiscale microscope, we will perform Dark Field X-ray Microscopy (DFXM), X-ray Topography (XRT), and Reciprocal Space Mapping (RSM) to characterize these defects fully. We will measure the structural defects currently attributed to “crystalline disorder” to clarify how they alter the magnetoresistance and functional properties.