Gate tunable magneto-resistance of ultra-thin W Te ₂ devices

Abstract

In this work, the magneto-resistance (MR) of ultra-thin WTe2/BN heterostructures far away from electron–hole equilibrium is measured. The change of MR of such devices is found to be determined largely by a single tunable parameter, i.e. the amount of imbalance between electrons and holes. We also found that the magnetoresistive behavior of ultra-thin WTe2 devices is well-captured by a two-fluid model. According to the model, the change of MR could be as large as 400 000%, the largest potential change of MR among all materials known, if the ultra-thin samples are tuned to neutrality when preserving the mobility of 167 000 cm2 V−1 s−1 observed in bulk samples. Our findings show the prospects of ultra-thin WTe2 as a variable magnetoresistance material in future applications such as magnetic field sensors, information storage and extraction devices, and galvanic isolators. The results also provide important insight into the electronic structure and the origin of the large MR in ultra-thin WTe2 samples.