  Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) are currently among the most
interesting two-dimensional (2D) materials due to their outstanding properties.
MoTe2 involves attractive polymorphic TMD crystals which can exist in three
different 2D atomic lattices of 2H, 1T and 1T', with diverse properties, like
semiconducting and metallic electronic characters. Using the polymorphic
heteroepitaxy, most recently coplanar semiconductor/metal (2H/1T') few-layer
MoTe2 heterostructures were experimentally synthesized, highly promising to
build circuit components for next generation nanoelectronics. Motivated by the
recent experimental advances, we conducted first-principles calculations to
explore the mechanical properties of single-layer MoTe2 structures. We first
studied the mechanical responses of pristine and single-layer 2H-, 1T- and
1T'-MoTe2. In these cases we particularly analyzed the possibility of
engineering of the electronic properties of these attractive 2D structures
using the biaxial or uniaxial tensile loadings. Finally, the mechanical-failure
responses of 1T'/2H-MoTe2 heterostructure were explored, which confirms the
remarkable strength of this novel 2D system.
