Strain-induced correlated metallic phase in 1T-TaS(2).

Uniaxial strain drives 1T-TaS2 out of its insulating charge-density-wave phase into a stable metallic phase, disrupting interlayer dimerization via Star-of-David stacking rearrangement.

• Why it matters: The field is split between a Mott-insulator picture and a band-insulator scenario from interlayer dimerization, and it is unclear whether tuning interlayer coupling can engineer new electronic phases.
• What they did: The authors used micro-focused angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, supported by first-principles calculations, to track how uniaxial strain changes interlayer stacking and electronic structure.
• The result: The strain-induced metallic phase shows significant quasiparticle mass renormalization, indicating correlated behavior and proximity to a Mott instability, distinct from hydrostatic-pressure or non-equilibrium hidden phases.

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