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When electron-electron interaction dominates over other electronic energyscales, exotic, collective phenomena often emerge out of seemingly ordinarymatter. The strongly correlated phenomena, such as quantum spin liquid andunconventional superconductivity, represent a major research frontier and aconstant source of inspiration. Central to strongly correlated physics is theconcept of Mott insulator, from which various other correlated phases derive.The advent of two-dimensional (2D) materials brings unprecedented opportunitiesto the study of strongly correlated physics in the 2D limit. In particular, theenhanced correlation and extreme tunability of 2D materials enables exploringstrongly correlated systems across uncharted parameter space. Here, we discoveran intriguing metal to Mott insulator transition in 1T-TaSe$_2$ as the materialis thinned down to atomic thicknesses. Specifically, we discover, for the firsttime, that the bulk metallicity of 1T-TaSe$_2$ arises from a band crossingFermi level. Reducing the dimensionality effectively quenches the kineticenergy of the initially itinerant electrons and drives the material into a Mottinsulating state. The dimensionality-driven Metal to Mott insulator transitionresolves the long-standing dichotomy between metallic bulk and insulatingsurface of 1T-TaSe$_2$. Our results additionally establish 1T-TaSe$_2$ as anideal variable system for exploring various strongly correlated phenomena.

Metal to Mott Insulator Transition in Two-dimensional 1T-TaSe$_2$