Nanoscale lattice dynamics in hexagonal boron nitride moiré superlattices

Moore, S. L.; Ciccarino, C. J.; Halbertal, D.; McGilly, L. J.; Finney, N. R.; Yao, K.; Shao, Y.; Ni, G.; Sternbach, A.; Telford, E. J.; Kim, B. S.; Rossi, S. E.; Watanabe, K.; Taniguchi, T.; Pasupathy, A. N.; Dean, C. R.; Hone, J.; Schuck, P. J.; Narang, P.; Basov, D. N.

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26072-7

Nanoscale lattice dynamics in hexagonal boron nitride moiré superlattices

Journal Article · Thu Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26072-7· OSTI ID:1852885

^[1]; ^[2]; Halbertal, D. ^[3]; McGilly, L. J. ^[3]; ^[3]; Yao, K. ^[3]; Shao, Y. ^[3]; Ni, G. ^[3]; ^[3]; Telford, E. J. ^[3]; Kim, B. S. ^[3]; Rossi, S. E. ^[3]; ^[4]; ^[4]; ^[3]; ^[3]; ^[3]; ^[3]; ^[2]; ^[3]

Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba (Japan)

Twisted two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures have unlocked a new means for manipulating the properties of quantum materials. The resulting mesoscopic moiré superlattices are accessible to a wide variety of scanning probes. To date, spatially-resolved techniques have prioritized electronic structure visualization, with lattice response experiments only in their infancy. Here, we therefore investigate lattice dynamics in twisted layers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), formed by a minute twist angle between two hBN monolayers assembled on a graphite substrate. Nano-infrared (nano-IR) spectroscopy reveals systematic variations of the in-plane optical phonon frequencies amongst the triangular domains and domain walls in the hBN moiré superlattices. Our first-principles calculations unveil a local and stacking-dependent interaction with the underlying graphite, prompting symmetry-breaking between the otherwise identical neighboring moiré domains of twisted hBN.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Stanford Univ., CA (United States); Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Simons Foundation

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019140; SC0019443

OSTI ID:: 1852885

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 12; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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