Two-dimensional Mott materials have recently been reported in the dichalcogenide family with high potential for Mottronic applications. Nevertheless, their widespread use as a single or few layers is hampered by their limited device integration resulting from their growth on graphene, a metallic substrate. Here, we report on the fabrication of 1T-TaSe2 monolayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on semiconducting gallium phosphide substrates. At the nanoscale, the charge density wave reconstruction and a moiré pattern resulting from the monolayer interaction with the substrate are observed by scanning tunneling microscopy. The fully open gap unveiled by tunneling spectroscopy, which can be further manipulated by the proximity of a metal tip, is confirmed by transport measurements from micrometric to millimetric scales, demonstrating a robust Mott insulating phase at up to 400 K.
Keywords: Mott semiconductors; charge density wave; moiré; molecular beam epitaxy; monolayer 1T-TaSe2.