- Hwang, Jinwoong;
- Jin, Yeongrok;
- Zhang, Canxun;
- Zhu, Tiancong;
- Kim, Kyoo;
- Zhong, Yong;
- Lee, Ji‐Eun;
- Shen, Zongqi;
- Chen, Yi;
- Ruan, Wei;
- Ryu, Hyejin;
- Hwang, Choongyu;
- Lee, Jaekwang;
- Crommie, Michael F;
- Mo, Sung‐Kwan;
- Shen, Zhi‐Xun
The spontaneous formation of electronic orders is a crucial element for understanding complex quantum states and engineering heterostructures in 2D materials. A novel 19 $\sqrt {19} $ × 19 $\sqrt {19} $ charge order in few-layer-thick 1T-TaTe2 transition metal dichalcogenide films grown by molecular beam epitaxy, which has not been realized, is report. The photoemission and scanning probe measurements demonstrate that monolayer 1T-TaTe2 exhibits a variety of metastable charge density wave orders, including the 19 $\sqrt {19} $ × 19 $\sqrt {19} $ superstructure, which can be selectively stabilized by controlling the post-growth annealing temperature. Moreover, it is found that only the 19 $\sqrt {19} $ × 19 $\sqrt {19} $ order persists in 1T-TaTe2 films thicker than a monolayer, up to 8 layers. The findings identify the previously unrealized novel electronic order in a much-studied transition metal dichalcogenide and provide a viable route to control it within the epitaxial growth process.