Application of pressure is known to be an effective tool for tuning structural and electronic properties of transition metal dichalcogenides.
Synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements on powder 2H-MoTe2 (P63/mmc) up to ~46 GPa have been performed along with first-principles based density functional theoretical analysis to probe the isostructural transition in low pressure regime and two electronic topological transitions (ETT) of Lifshitz-type in high pressure regime.
Isostructural transitions in layered MX2 compounds are governed by competing van der Waals (vdW) and Coulomb interactions.