Effect of molecular intercalation on the local structure of superconducting Nax(NH3)yMoSe2 system

Abstract We have studied the local structure of layered Na x (NH 3 ) y MoSe 2 system by Mo K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements performed as a function of temperature. We find that molecular intercalation in MoSe 2 largely affects the Mo-Se network while Mo-Mo seems to sustain small changes. The Einstein temperature ( Θ E ) of Mo-Mo distance hardly changes ( ∼ 264 K) indicating that bond strength of this distance remains unaffected by intercalation. On the other hand, Mo-Se distance suffers a softening, revealed by the decrease of Θ E from ∼ 364 K to ∼ 350 K. The results indicate that Na + ion transported by NH 3 molecules may enter between the two MoSe-layers resulting reduced Se-Se coupling. Therefore, increased hybridization between Se 4p and Mo 4d orbitals due to inter-layer disorder is the likely reason of metallicity in intercalated MoSe 2 and superconductivity at low temperature.