1. Atom-by-atom imaging of moiré transformations in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides.
- Author
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Yichao Zhang, Ji-Hwan Baek, Chia-Hao Lee, Yeonjoon Jung, Seong Chul Hong, Nolan, Gillian, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Gwan-Hyoung Lee, and Huang, Pinshane Y.
- Subjects
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TRANSITION metals , *TRANSMISSION electron microscopy , *CRYSTAL orientation , *INTERFACE structures , *NANOSTRUCTURED materials - Abstract
Understanding the atomic-scale mechanisms that govern the structure of interfaces is critical across materials systems but particularly so for two-dimensional (2D) moiré materials. Here, we image, atom-by-atom, the thermally induced structural evolution of twisted bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides using in situ transmission electron microscopy. We observe low-temperature, local conversion of moiré superlattice into nanoscale aligned domains. Unexpectedly, this process occurs by nucleating a new grain within one monolayer, whose crystal orientation is templated by the other. The aligned domains grow through collective rotation of moiré supercells and hopping of 5|7 defect pairs at moiré boundaries. This provides mechanistic insight into the atomic-scale interactions controlling moiré structures and illustrates the potential to pattern interfacial structure and properties of 2D materials at the nanoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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