Elastic Properties and Fracture Behaviors of Biaxially Deformed, Polymorphic MoTe₂

Biaxial deformation of suspended membranes widely exists and is used in nanoindentation to probe elastic properties of structurally isotropic two-dimensional (2D) materials. However, the elastic properties and, in particular, the fracture behaviors of anisotropic 2D materials remain largely unclarified in the case of biaxial deformation. MoTe₂ is a polymorphic 2D material with both isotropic (2H) and anisotropic (1T′ and T_d) phases and, therefore, an ideal system of single-stoichiometric materials with which to study these critical issues. Here, we report the elastic properties and fracture behaviors of biaxially deformed, polymorphic MoTe₂ by combining temperature-variant nanoindentation and first-principles calculations. It is found that due to similar atomic bonding, the effective moduli of the three phases deviate by less than 15%. However, the breaking strengths of distorted 1T′ and T_d phases are only half the value of 2H phase due to their uneven distribution of bonding strengths. Fractures of both isotropic 2H and anisotropic 1T′ phases obey the theorem of minimum energy, forming triangular and linear fracture patterns, respectively, along the orientations parallel to Mo–Mo zigzag chains. Our findings not only provide a reference database for the elastic behaviors of versatile MoTe₂ phases but also illuminate a general strategy for the mechanical investigation of any isotropic and anisotropic 2D materials.