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Polymorphic transitions in layered transition metal dichalcogenides providean excellent platform for discovering exotic phenomena associated withmetastable states, ranging from topological phase transitions to enhancedsuperconductivity. In particular, the transition from 2H to 1T'-MoTe$_2$, whichwas thought to be induced by high-energy photon irradiation among many othermeans, has been intensely studied for its technological relevance in nanoscaletransistors. Despite the remarkable electrical performance arising from this2H-to-1T' transition, it remains controversial whether a crystalline 1T' phaseis produced because optical signatures of this putative transition are found tobe associated with the formation of elemental Te clusters instead. Here, wedemonstrate the creation of an intrinsic 1T' lattice after irradiating a mono-or few-layer 2H-MoTe$_2$ with a single field-enhanced terahertz pulse, whoselow photon energy limits possible structural damage by optical pulses. Tovisualize the temporal evolution of this irreversible transition, we furtherdevelop a single-shot terahertz pump-second harmonic probe technique, and wefind that the transition out of the 2H phase occurs within 10 ns afterphotoexcitation. Our results not only resolve the long-standing debate over thelight-induced polymorphic transition in MoTe$_2$, they also highlight theunique capability of strong-field terahertz pulses in manipulating thestructure of quantum materials.

Intrinsic 1T' phase induced in atomically thin 2H-MoTe$_2$ by a single terahertz pulse