Raman scattering investigation of large positive magnetoresistance material WTe2

We have performed polarized Raman scattering measurements on WTe2, for which an extremely large positive magnetoresistance has been reported recently. We observe 5 A(1) phonon modes and 2 A(2) phonon modes out of 33 Raman active modes, with frequencies in good accordance with first-principles calculations. The angular dependence of the intensity of the peaks observed is consistent with the Raman tensors of the C-2v point group symmetry attributed to WTe2. Although the phonon spectra suggest neither strong electron-phonon nor spin-phonon coupling, the intensity of the A(1) phonon mode at 160.6 cm(-1) shows an unconventional decrease with temperature decreasing, for which the origin remains unclear. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.