Unveiling Atomic-Scale Moiré Features and Atomic Reconstructions in High-Angle Commensurately Twisted Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Homobilayers

Twisting two-dimensional iron sulfide layers into coincident site superlattices via intercalation chemistry

Layered van der Waals (vdW) materials are susceptible not only to various stacking polymorphs through translations but also twisted structures due to rotations between layers. Here, we study the influence of such layer-to-layer twisting through the intercalation of ethylenediamine (EDA) molecules into tetragonal iron sulfide (Mackinawite FeS). Selected area electron diffraction patterns of intercalated FeS display reflections corresponding to multiple square lattices with a fixed angle between them, contrary to a single square lattice seen in the unintercalated phase. The observed twist angles of 49.13° and 22.98° result from a superstructure formation well described by the coincident site lattice (CSL) theory. According to the CSL theory, these measured twist angles lead to the formation of larger coincident site supercells. We build these CSL models for FeS using crystallographic group-subgroup transformations and find simulated electron diffraction patterns from the model to agree with the experimentally measured data.

Recent Strategies for the Synthesis of Phase-Pure Ultrathin 1T/1T' Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Nanosheets

The past few decades have witnessed a notable increase in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) related research not only because of the large family of TMD candidates but also because of the various polytypes that arise from the monolayer configuration and layer stacking order. The peculiar physicochemical properties of TMD nanosheets enable an enormous range of applications from fundamental science to industrial technologies based on the preparation of high-quality TMDs. For polymorphic TMDs, the 1T/1T' phase is particularly intriguing because of the enriched density of states, and thus facilitates fruitful chemistry. Herein, we comprehensively discuss the most recent strategies for direct synthesis of phase-pure 1T/1T' TMD nanosheets such as mechanical exfoliation, chemical vapor deposition, wet chemical synthesis, atomic layer deposition, and more. We also review frequently adopted methods for phase engineering in TMD nanosheets ranging from chemical doping and alloying, to charge injection, and irradiation with optical or charged particle beams. Prior to the synthesis methods, we discuss the configuration of TMDs as well as the characterization tools mostly used in experiments. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and opportunities as well as emphasize the promising fields for the future development.

Moiré-of-Moiré phases formed in twisted graphene/hexagonal boron nitride heterostructures under high pressure

The atomistic behavior and mechanical properties of twisted graphene/h-BN (T-GBN) heterostructures under hydrostatic high-pressure is investigated using density functional theory with the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functional. Systematic explorations of T-GBN heterostructures with different twist angles (9.43°, 13.17°, and 21.78° characterized by moiré patterns) reveal that stable phases, denoted as Moiré-BC2N (m-BC2N), are formed. Notably, the m-BC2N (21.78°) phase maintains perfect sp3 hybridization, even upon complete relaxation to zero pressure, and its mechanical stability is confirmed; comprehensive mechanical evaluations unveil the crystal anisotropic attributes, further highlighting its exceptionally high hardness. Specifically, m-BC2N (21.78°) demonstrates an impressive hardness of 74.7 GPa. Furthermore, electronic structure analysis of m-BC2N exhibits wide bandgaps (Eg), , comparable to diamond, while m-BC2N (9.43°) exhibits a lower bandgap, . This study sheds light on designing novel BCN ternary structures with outstanding mechanical properties under high pressures.

Reconfiguring nucleation for CVD growth of twisted bilayer MoS2 with a wide range of twist angles

Twisted bilayer (TB) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) beyond TB-graphene are considered an ideal platform for investigating condensed matter physics, due to the moiré superlattices-related peculiar band structures and distinct electronic properties. The growth of large-area and high-quality TB-TMDCs with wide twist angles would be significant for exploring twist angle-dependent physics and applications, but remains challenging to implement. Here, we propose a reconfiguring nucleation chemical vapor deposition (CVD) strategy for directly synthesizing TB-MoS2 with twist angles from 0° to 120°. The twist angles-dependent Moiré periodicity can be clearly observed, and the interlayer coupling shows a strong relationship to the twist angles. Moreover, the yield of TB-MoS2 in bilayer MoS2 and density of TB-MoS2 are significantly improved to 17.2% and 28.9 pieces/mm2 by tailoring gas flow rate and molar ratio of NaCl to MoO3. The proposed reconfiguring nucleation approach opens an avenue for the precise growth of TB-TMDCs for both fundamental research and practical applications.

Learning motifs and their hierarchies in atomic resolution microscopy

Characterizing materials to atomic resolution and first-principles structure-property prediction are two pillars for accelerating functional materials discovery. However, we are still lacking a rapid, noise-robust framework to extract multilevel atomic structural motifs from complex materials to complement, inform, and guide our first-principles models. Here, we present a machine learning framework that rapidly extracts a hierarchy of complex structural motifs from atomically resolved images. We demonstrate how such motif hierarchies can rapidly reconstruct specimens with various defects. Abstracting complex specimens with simplified motifs enabled us to discover a previously unidentified structure in a Mo─V─Te─Nb polyoxometalate (POM) and quantify the relative disorder in a twisted bilayer MoS₂. In addition, these motif hierarchies provide statistically grounded clues about the favored and frustrated pathways during self-assembly. The motifs and their hierarchies in our framework coarse-grain disorder in a manner that allows us to understand a much broader range of multiscale samples with functional imperfections and nontrivial topological phases.

Targeting One- and Two-Dimensional Ta-Te Structures via Nanotube Encapsulation

Fine control over material synthesis on the nanoscale can facilitate the stabilization of competing crystalline structures. Here, we demonstrate how carbon nanotube reaction vessels can be used to selectively create one-dimensional TaTe₃ chains or two-dimensional TaTe₂ nanoribbons with exquisite control of the chain number or nanoribbon thickness and width. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy reveal the detailed atomic structure of the encapsulated materials. Complex superstructures such as multichain spiraling and apparent multilayer moirés are observed. The rare 2H phase of TaTe₂ (1H in monolayer) is found to be abundant as an encapsulated nanoribbon inside carbon nanotubes. The experimental results are complemented by density functional theory calculations for the atomic and electronic structure, which uncovers the prevalence of 2H-TaTe₂ due to nanotube-to-nanoribbon charge transfer and size confinement. Calculations also reveal new 1T' type charge density wave phases in TaTe₂ that could be observed in experimental studies.

Reduced Fermi Level Pinning at Physisorptive Sites of Moire-MoS2/Metal Schottky Barriers

Weaker Fermi level pinning (FLP) at the Schottky barriers of 2D semiconductors is electrically desirable as this would allow a minimizing of contact resistances, which presently limit device performances. Existing contacts on MoS2 have a strong FLP with a small pinning factor of only ∼0.1. Here, we show that Moire interfaces can stabilize physisorptive sites at the Schottky barriers with a much weaker interaction without significantly lengthening the bonds. This increases the pinning factor up to ∼0.37 and greatly reduces the n-type Schottky barrier height to ∼0.2 eV for certain metals such as In and Ag, which can have physisorptive sites. This then accounts for the low contact resistance of these metals as seen experimentally. Such physisorptive interfaces can be extended to similar systems to better control SBHs in highly scaled 2D devices.

Strong Moiré Excitons in High-Angle Twisted Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Homobilayers with Robust Commensuration

The burgeoning field of twistronics, which concerns how changing the relative twist angles between two materials creates new optoelectronic properties, offers a novel platform for studying twist-angle dependent excitonic physics. Herein, by surveying a range of hexagonal phase transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) twisted homobilayers, we find that 21.8 ± 1.0°-twisted (7a×7a) and 27.8 ± 1.0°-twisted (13a×13a) bilayers account for nearly 20% of the total population of twisted bilayers in solution-phase restacked bilayers and can be found also in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) samples. Examining the optical properties associated with these twisted angles, we found that 21.8 ± 1.0° twisted MoS₂ bilayers exhibit an intense moiré exciton peak in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, originating from the refolded Brillouin zones. Our work suggests that commensurately twisted TMD homobilayers with short commensurate wavelengths can have interesting optoelectronic properties that are different from the small twist angle counterparts.

Twin Boundary Superstructures Assembled by Periodic Segregation of Solute Atoms

Twinning is a common deformation mechanism in metals, and twin boundary (TB) segregation of impurities/solutes plays an important role in the performances of alloys such as thermostability, mobility, and even strengthening. The occurrence of such segregation phenomena is generally believed as a one-layer coverage of solutes alternately distributed at extension/compression sites, in an orderly, continuous manner. However, in the Mn-free and Mn-containing Mg-Nd model systems, we reported unexpected three- and five-layered discontinuous segregation patterns of the coherent {101̅1} TBs, and not all the extension sites occupied by solutes larger in size than Mg, and even some larger sized solutes taking the compression sites. Nd/Mn solutes selectively segregate at substitutional sites and thus to generate two new types of ordered two-dimensional TB superstructures or complexions. These findings refresh the understanding of solute segregation in the perfect coherent TBs and provide a meaningful theoretical guidance for designing materials via targeted TB segregation.

Layer-dependent interface reconstruction and strain modulation in twisted WSe2

Twistronics has emerged as one of the most attractive playgrounds for manipulating the interfacial structures and electronic properties of two-dimensional materials. However, the layer-dependent lattice reconstruction and resulted strain distribution in marginally twisted transition metal dichalcogenides still remain elusive. Here we report a systematic study by both electron diffraction quantification and atomic-resolution imaging on the interface reconstruction of twisted WSe₂, which shows a strong dependence on the constituent layer numbers and twist angles. The competition between the interlayer interaction, which varies with local atomic configurations, and the intralayer elastic deformation, related to the layer thickness, leads to rich superlattice motifs and strain modulation patterns, i.e. triangular for odd and kagome-like textures for even layer numbers, against the rigid stacking moiré model. The strain effects of small twist angles are further demonstrated by electrical transport measurements, manifesting intriguing conducting states at low temperatures beyond the flat band features of large twist angles. Our work not only provides a comprehensive understanding of layer-dependent twist structures, but also may shed light on the future design of twistronic devices.