Unconventional non-local relaxation dynamics in a twisted trilayer graphene moiré superlattice.

Autor: Halbertal D; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA. dorrihal@gmail.com., Turkel S; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.; Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA., Ciccarino CJ; Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA., Profe JB; Institute for Theory of Statistical Physics, RWTH Aachen University, and JARA Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, 52062, Aachen, Germany., Finney N; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA., Hsieh V; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA., Watanabe K; Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, 305-0044, Japan., Taniguchi T; International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, 305-0044, Japan., Hone J; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA., Dean C; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA., Narang P; Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA., Pasupathy AN; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.; Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA., Kennes DM; Institute for Theory of Statistical Physics, RWTH Aachen University, and JARA Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, 52062, Aachen, Germany.; Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Center for Free Electron Laser Science, Hamburg, Germany., Basov DN; Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2022 Dec 08; Vol. 13 (1), pp. 7587. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Dec 08.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35213-5
Abstrakt: The electronic and structural properties of atomically thin materials can be controllably tuned by assembling them with an interlayer twist. During this process, constituent layers spontaneously rearrange themselves in search of a lowest energy configuration. Such relaxation phenomena can lead to unexpected and novel material properties. Here, we study twisted double trilayer graphene (TDTG) using nano-optical and tunneling spectroscopy tools. We reveal a surprising optical and electronic contrast, as well as a stacking energy imbalance emerging between the moiré domains. We attribute this contrast to an unconventional form of lattice relaxation in which an entire graphene layer spontaneously shifts position during assembly, resulting in domains of ABABAB and BCBACA stacking. We analyze the energetics of this transition and demonstrate that it is the result of a non-local relaxation process, in which an energy gain in one domain of the moiré lattice is paid for by a relaxation that occurs in the other.
(© 2022. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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