We predicted that 2H-to-1T’ structural phase transformations in monolayer MoTe₂ can be driven by electrostatic gating. Our predictions were confirmed in the lab, where our collaborators employed ionic liquids to gate the monolayer (a). Raman spectroscopy (b) and second harmonic generation studies confirm the phase transition takes place when increasing the gate voltage.

We predict that this mechanism could consume much less energy than existing thermally-driven phase-change memory devices made of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅  (c).  We compare the energy consumption to the electrostatic gating case of monolayer MoTe2 (d), which uses voltage and charge to induce the transformation.

We find that the theoretical minimum energy required to change phase in monolayer MoTe₂ is 100-10,000 times lower than the energy required with state of the art Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ phase change devices (e).