IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-56055-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spontaneous curvature in two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures

Author

Listed:
  • Yuxiang Gao

    (University of Science and Technology of China
    University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Fenglin Deng

    (University of Science and Technology of China
    University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Ri He

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Zhicheng Zhong

    (University of Science and Technology of China
    University of Science and Technology of China)

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals heterostructures consist of different 2D crystals with diverse properties, constituting the cornerstone of the new generation of 2D electronic devices. Yet interfaces in heterostructures inevitably break bulk symmetry and structural continuity, resulting in delicate atomic rearrangements and novel electronic structures. In this paper, we predict that 2D interfaces undergo “spontaneous curvature”, which means when two flat 2D layers approach each other, they inevitably experience out-of-plane curvature. Based on deep-learning-assisted large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we observe significant out-of-plane displacements up to 3.8 Å in graphene/BN bilayers induced by curvature, producing a stable hexagonal moiré pattern, which agrees well with experimentally observations. Additionally, the out-of-plane flexibility of 2D crystals enables the propagation of curvature throughout the system, thereby influencing the mechanical properties of the heterostructure. These findings offer fundamental insights into the atomic structure in 2D van der Waals heterostructures and pave the way for their applications in devices.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuxiang Gao & Fenglin Deng & Ri He & Zhicheng Zhong, 2025. "Spontaneous curvature in two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-56055-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56055-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56055-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-56055-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dorri Halbertal & Nathan R. Finney & Sai S. Sunku & Alexander Kerelsky & Carmen Rubio-Verdú & Sara Shabani & Lede Xian & Stephen Carr & Shaowen Chen & Charles Zhang & Lei Wang & Derick Gonzalez-Aceved, 2021. "Moiré metrology of energy landscapes in van der Waals heterostructures," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Jian Gou & Hua Bai & Xuanlin Zhang & Yu Li Huang & Sisheng Duan & A. Ariando & Shengyuan A. Yang & Lan Chen & Yunhao Lu & Andrew Thye Shen Wee, 2023. "Two-dimensional ferroelectricity in a single-element bismuth monolayer," Nature, Nature, vol. 617(7959), pages 67-72, May.
    3. Emma C. Regan & Danqing Wang & Chenhao Jin & M. Iqbal Bakti Utama & Beini Gao & Xin Wei & Sihan Zhao & Wenyu Zhao & Zuocheng Zhang & Kentaro Yumigeta & Mark Blei & Johan D. Carlström & Kenji Watanabe , 2020. "Mott and generalized Wigner crystal states in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices," Nature, Nature, vol. 579(7799), pages 359-363, March.
    4. Daniel Bennett & Gaurav Chaudhary & Robert-Jan Slager & Eric Bousquet & Philippe Ghosez, 2023. "Polar meron-antimeron networks in strained and twisted bilayers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    5. A. K. Geim & I. V. Grigorieva, 2013. "Van der Waals heterostructures," Nature, Nature, vol. 499(7459), pages 419-425, July.
    6. Matthew Yankowitz & K. Watanabe & T. Taniguchi & Pablo San-Jose & Brian J. LeRoy, 2016. "Pressure-induced commensurate stacking of graphene on boron nitride," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, December.
    7. Martin Stolterfoht & Christian M. Wolff & José A. Márquez & Shanshan Zhang & Charles J. Hages & Daniel Rothhardt & Steve Albrecht & Paul L. Burn & Paul Meredith & Thomas Unold & Dieter Neher, 2018. "Visualization and suppression of interfacial recombination for high-efficiency large-area pin perovskite solar cells," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(10), pages 847-854, October.
    8. Suk Hyun Sung & Yin Min Goh & Hyobin Yoo & Rebecca Engelke & Hongchao Xie & Kuan Zhang & Zidong Li & Andrew Ye & Parag B. Deotare & Ellad B. Tadmor & Andrew J. Mannix & Jiwoong Park & Liuyan Zhao & Ph, 2022. "Torsional periodic lattice distortions and diffraction of twisted 2D materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Senlei Li & Zeliang Sun & Nathan J. McLaughlin & Afsana Sharmin & Nishkarsh Agarwal & Mengqi Huang & Suk Hyun Sung & Hanyi Lu & Shaohua Yan & Hechang Lei & Robert Hovden & Hailong Wang & Hua Chen & Li, 2024. "Observation of stacking engineered magnetic phase transitions within moiré supercells of twisted van der Waals magnets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Madeline Winkle & Isaac M. Craig & Stephen Carr & Medha Dandu & Karen C. Bustillo & Jim Ciston & Colin Ophus & Takashi Taniguchi & Kenji Watanabe & Archana Raja & Sinéad M. Griffin & D. Kwabena Bediak, 2023. "Rotational and dilational reconstruction in transition metal dichalcogenide moiré bilayers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Jakub Jasiński & Joakim Hagel & Samuel Brem & Edith Wietek & Takashi Taniguchi & Kenji Watanabe & Alexey Chernikov & Nicolas Bruyant & Mateusz Dyksik & Alessandro Surrente & Michał Baranowski & Duncan, 2025. "Quadrupolar excitons in MoSe2 bilayers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Yu-Xiao Han & Benfeng Bai & Jian-Yu Zhang & Jia-Tai Huang & Peng-Yi Feng & Hong-Bo Sun, 2024. "Light-modulated van der Waals force microscopy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Singh, Deobrat & Khossossi, Nabil & Lizárraga, Raquel & Sonvane, Yogesh, 2024. "Theoretical prediction of a high-performance two-dimensional type-II MoSi2N4/As vdW heterostructure for photovoltaic solar cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    6. Pandey, Mayank & Deshmukh, Kalim & Raman, Akhila & Asok, Aparna & Appukuttan, Saritha & Suman, G.R., 2024. "Prospects of MXene and graphene for energy storage and conversion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    7. Benjamin Carey & Nils Kolja Wessling & Paul Steeger & Robert Schmidt & Steffen Michaelis de Vasconcellos & Rudolf Bratschitsch & Ashish Arora, 2024. "Giant Faraday rotation in atomically thin semiconductors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    8. Zhen Lian & Dongxue Chen & Lei Ma & Yuze Meng & Ying Su & Li Yan & Xiong Huang & Qiran Wu & Xinyue Chen & Mark Blei & Takashi Taniguchi & Kenji Watanabe & Sefaattin Tongay & Chuanwei Zhang & Yong-Tao , 2023. "Quadrupolar excitons and hybridized interlayer Mott insulator in a trilayer moiré superlattice," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    9. Zhixin Yao & Huifeng Tian & U. Sasaki & Huacong Sun & Jingyi Hu & Guodong Xue & Ye Seul Jung & Ruijie Li & Zhenjiang Li & PeiChi Liao & Yihan Wang & Lina Yang Zhang & Ge Yin & Xuanyu Zhang & Yijie Luo, 2025. "Transferrable, wet-chemistry-derived high-k amorphous metal oxide dielectrics for two-dimensional electronic devices," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. James G. McHugh & Xue Li & Isaac Soltero & Vladimir I. Fal’ko, 2024. "Two-dimensional electrons at mirror and twistronic twin boundaries in van der Waals ferroelectrics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    11. Eli Gerber & Steven B. Torrisi & Sara Shabani & Eric Seewald & Jordan Pack & Jennifer E. Hoffman & Cory R. Dean & Abhay N. Pasupathy & Eun-Ah Kim, 2023. "High-throughput ab initio design of atomic interfaces using InterMatch," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    12. Yu Ji & Guang-Ping Hao & Yong-Tao Tan & Wenqi Xiong & Yu Liu & Wenzhe Zhou & Dai-Ming Tang & Renzhi Ma & Shengjun Yuan & Takayoshi Sasaki & Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo & Andre K. Geim & Pengzhan Sun, 2024. "High proton conductivity through angstrom-porous titania," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    13. Chuanzhao Li & Mykola Telychko & Yue Zheng & Shurong Yuan & Zhenyue Wu & Walter P. D. Wong & Yixin Li & Yuanyuan Jin & Weng Fu Io & Xinyun Wang & Junhao Lin & Jianhua Hao & Cheng Han & Kai Leng, 2024. "Switchable planar chirality and spin texture in highly ordered ferroelectric hybrid perovskite domains," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    14. Fan Zhang & Zhe Wang & Lixuan Liu & Anmin Nie & Yanxing Li & Yongji Gong & Wenguang Zhu & Chenggang Tao, 2024. "Atomic-scale manipulation of polar domain boundaries in monolayer ferroelectric In2Se3," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    15. Bohayra Mortazavi & Timon Rabczuk, 2018. "Boron Monochalcogenides; Stable and Strong Two-Dimensional Wide Band-Gap Semiconductors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-10, June.
    16. Yeonghun Lee & Yaoqiao Hu & Xiuyao Lang & Dongwook Kim & Kejun Li & Yuan Ping & Kai-Mei C. Fu & Kyeongjae Cho, 2022. "Spin-defect qubits in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides operating at telecom wavelengths," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    17. Jinlei Zhang & Jiayong Zhang & Yaping Qi & Shuainan Gong & Hang Xu & Zhenqi Liu & Ran Zhang & Mohammad A. Sadi & Demid Sychev & Run Zhao & Hongbin Yang & Zhenping Wu & Dapeng Cui & Lin Wang & Chunlan , 2024. "Room-temperature ferroelectric, piezoelectric and resistive switching behaviors of single-element Te nanowires," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    18. Mengqi Huang & Zeliang Sun & Gerald Yan & Hongchao Xie & Nishkarsh Agarwal & Gaihua Ye & Suk Hyun Sung & Hanyi Lu & Jingcheng Zhou & Shaohua Yan & Shangjie Tian & Hechang Lei & Robert Hovden & Rui He , 2023. "Revealing intrinsic domains and fluctuations of moiré magnetism by a wide-field quantum microscope," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    19. Dongyang Yang & Jing Liang & Jingda Wu & Yunhuan Xiao & Jerry I. Dadap & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi Taniguchi & Ziliang Ye, 2024. "Non-volatile electrical polarization switching via domain wall release in 3R-MoS2 bilayer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    20. Xinrui Yang & Lu Han & Hongkai Ning & Shaoqing Xu & Bo Hao & Yi-Chi Li & Taotao Li & Yuan Gao & Shengjun Yan & Yueying Li & Chenyi Gu & Weisheng Li & Zhengbin Gu & Yingzhuo Lun & Yi Shi & Jian Zhou & , 2024. "Ultralow-pressure-driven polarization switching in ferroelectric membranes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-56055-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.