Physical Sciences Division
Published December 19, 2022 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Torsional periodic lattice distortions and diffraction of twisted 2D materials

Creators

  • 1. University of Michigan
  • 2. Sogang University
  • 3. Harvard University
  • 4. University of Minnesota
  • 5. University of Chicago
  • 6. Stanford University

Description

Twisted 2D materials form complex moiré structures that spontaneously reduce symmetry through picoscale deformation within a mesoscale lattice. We show twisted 2D materials contain a torsional displacement field comprised of three transverse periodic lattice distortions (PLD). The torsional PLD amplitude provides a single order parameter that concisely describes the structural complexity of twisted bilayer moirés. Moreover, the structure and amplitude of a torsional periodic lattice distortion is quantifiable using rudimentary electron diffraction methods sensitive to reciprocal space. In twisted bilayer graphene, the torsional PLD begins to form at angles below 3.89° and the amplitude reaches 8 pm around the magic angle of 1. 1°. At extremely low twist angles (e.g. below 0.25°) the amplitude increases and additional PLD harmonics arise to expand Bernal stacked domains separated by well defined solitonic boundaries. The torsional distortion field in twisted bilayer graphene is analytically described and has an upper bound of 22.6 pm. Similar torsional distortions are observed in twisted WS2, CrI3, and WSe2/MoSe2.

Data availability

Raw SAED micrographs are publicly available in (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.20352933.v2). Any additional data that support the findings of this study are available in the article and Supplementary Information.

The simulation parameters for running multislice simulation are publicly available (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.20352933.v2).

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Torsional-periodic-lattice-distortions-and-diffraction-of-twisted-2D-materials.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1038/s41467-022-35477-x
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:5324

Funding

ARO
W911NF-22-1-0056
W. M. Keck Foundation
ARO
MURI
National Science Foundation
DMR-1922172
National Science Foundation
CAREER
AFOSR
YIP
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
National Science Foundation
Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, and Discovery of Interface Materials (PARADIM)
Air Force Office of Scientific Research
MURI Project
University of Chicago MRSEC
Kadanoff-Rice Postdoctoral Fellowship
Department of Defense
National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship Program

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Physical Sciences Division, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Department(s)
Chemistry