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Charge density waves (CDWs) in two-dimensional (2D) materials have been amajor focus of research in condensed matter physics for several decades due totheir potential for quantum-based technologies. In particular, CDWs can inducea metal-insulator transition by coupling two Dirac fermions, resulting in theemergence of a topological phase. Following this idea, here we explore thebehavior of three different CDWs in a new 2D layered material, SnP, using bothdensity functional theory calculations and experimental synthesis to study itsstability. The layered structure of its bulk counterpart, Sn4P3, suggests thatthe structure can be synthesized down to the monolayer by exfoliation orchemical means. However, despite the stability of the bulk, the monolayer showsunstable phonons at {\Gamma}, K, and M points of the Brillouin zone, which leadto three possible charge-density-wave phases. All three CDWs lead to metastableinsulating phases, with the one driven by the the active phonon in the K pointbeing topologically non-trivial under strain. Strikingly, the ground-statestructure is only revealed due to the presence of strong anharmonic effects.This, underscores the importance of studying CDWs beyond the conventionalharmonic picture, where the system's ground state can be elucidated solely fromthe harmonic phonon spectra.

Purely anharmonic charge-density wave in the 2D Dirac semimetal SnP