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Local atomic stacking and symmetry in twisted graphene trilayers

Journal Article · · Nature Materials
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); SLAC
  2. University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba (Japan)
  5. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division
  6. University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Moiré superlattices formed from twisting trilayers of graphene are an ideal model for studying electronic correlation, and offer several advantages over bilayer analogues, including more robust and tunable superconductivity and a wide range of twist angles associated with flat band formation. Atomic reconstruction, which strongly impacts the electronic structure of twisted graphene structures, has been suggested to play a major role in the relative versatility of superconductivity in trilayers. Here, we exploit an inteferometric 4D-STEM approach to image a wide range of trilayer graphene structures. Here, our results unveil a considerably different model for moiré lattice relaxation in trilayers than that proposed from previous measurements, informing a thorough understanding of how reconstruction modulates the atomic stacking symmetries crucial for establishing superconductivity and other correlated phases in twisted graphene trilayers.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF); Air Force Research Laboratory; Office of Naval Research (ONR); Army Research Office (ARO); W.M. Keck Foundation; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; 3M Foundation; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
2323399
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2480470
Journal Information:
Nature Materials, Journal Name: Nature Materials Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 23; ISSN 1476-1122
Publisher:
Springer NatureCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (38)

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