Tuning the electronic properties of a matter is of fundamental interest in scientific research as well as in applications. Recently, the Mott insulator-metal transition has been reported in a pristine layered transition metal dichalcogenide 1T-TaS\({}_{2}\), with the transition triggered by an optical excitation, a gate controlled intercalation, or a voltage pulse. However, the sudden insulator-metal transition hinders an exploration of how the transition evolves. Here, we report the strain as a possible new tuning parameter to induce Mott gap collapse in 1T-TaS\({}_{2}\). In a strain-rich area, we find a mosaic state with distinct electronic density of states within different domains. In a corrugated surface, we further observe and analyze a smooth evolution from a Mott gap state to a metallic state. Our results shed new lights on the understanding of the insulator-metal transition and promote a controllable strain engineering on the design of switching devices in the future.

调整事物的电子特性在科学研究以及应用中都具有根本的意义。最近，已经报道了在原始的层状过渡金属二卤化二锡1 T -TaS \（{} _ {2} \）中发生的Mott绝缘体-金属过渡，该过渡是由光激发，栅极受控的嵌入或电压触发的脉冲。然而，突然的绝缘体-金属过渡阻碍了对过渡如何发展的探索。在这里，我们将应变报告为可能的新调整参数，以在1 T -TaS \（{} _ {2} \）中引起Mott间隙塌陷。在一个应变丰富的区域中，我们发现了一个镶嵌态，该镶嵌态在不同域内具有不同的电子态密度。在波纹表面中，我们进一步观察和分析了从莫特间隙状态到金属状态的平滑演变。我们的结果为理解绝缘体-金属过渡带提供了新的亮点，并在将来推动了开关设备设计中的可控应变工程。