Researchers at UVa found a way through strain engineering to manipulate the electronic band structure, and induce large, reversible response of the magnetoresistive properties under high magnetic fields in topological Weyl semimetal MoTe2.  Coupled with this response is a phase change that can also be reversibly switched under tensile strain.  The work done in collaboration with the Condensed Matter experimental group of Despina Louca and the theoretical group of Gia-wei Chern showed for the first time that the response is due to a changing atomic orbital texture under strain.  The results from this work recently appeared in Science Advances.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/12/eaao4949