Series of topological phase transitions in TiTe2 under strain

Abstract

First-principles calculations are performed to investigate the topological properties of TiTe2 under hydrostatic pressure, uniaxial strain, and biaxial strain. It is found that the system is unusually accessible to strain effects and the first compound that under hydrostatic pressure (up to experimentally reasonable 30 GPa) is subject to a series of four topological phase transitions, which are related to band inversions at different points of the Brillouin zone. Therefore, TiTe2 enables experimental access to all these transitions in a single compound.