Unveiling Pressure-Induced Transitions in Bulk MoTe2 and SnSe2

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) undergo substantial changes in their structural and electronic properties under applied pressure leading to charge density wave, superconducting, and topologically non-trivial phases. In this talk, I will present our latest results on MoTe2 and SnSe2, two compounds that have emerged as promising candidates for exploring exotic states of matter. In the case of MoTe2, we demonstrated that the superconducting dome observed experimentally originates from the synergistic contribution of the density of states at the Fermi level and the transverse acoustic Te modes in the 1T’ phase. In the case of SnSe2, we showed that the apparent contradiction among high-pressure results can be attributed to differences in experimental conditions. In particular, we provided evidence that while a superconducting state emerges in the parent compound under non-hydrostatic pressure, a structural transition to a commensurate superstructure develops under hydrostatic pressure.