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Chiral twisted van der Waals nanowires

Author

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  • Peter Sutter

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

  • Shawn Wimer

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

  • Eli Sutter

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

Abstract

Van der Waals heterostructures with small misalignment between adjacent layers (‘interlayer twist’) are of interest because of electronic structure and correlation phenomena (such as superconductivity) that are determined by both the atomic lattice and long-range superlattice potentials arising in interlayer moiré patterns1–7. Previously, such twisted heterostructures have involved a single planar interface between layers isolated by exfoliation and micromechanically stacked in the desired relative orientation1,8–12. Here we demonstrate a class of materials—van der Waals nanowires of layered crystals—in which a tunable interlayer twist evolves naturally during synthesis. In vapour–liquid–solid growth, nanowires of germanium(ii) sulfide, an anisotropic layered semiconductor, crystallize with layering along the wire axis13 and have a strong propensity for forming axial screw dislocations. Nanometre-resolved electron diffraction shows that Eshelby twist, induced by a torque on the ends of a cylindrical solid due to the stress field of an axial dislocation14,15, causes a chiral structure in the van der Waals nanowires. The in-plane germanium sulfide crystal axes progressively rotate along the wire, and germanium sulfide layers in adjacent turns of the helix naturally form a moiré pattern because of their interlayer twist. The axial rotation and the twist are tunable by varying the nanowire thickness. Combined electron diffraction and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy show the correlation between the interlayer twist and locally excited light emission that is due to progressive changes in the lattice orientation and in the interlayer moiré registry along the nanowires. The findings demonstrate a step towards scalable fabrication of van der Waals structures with defined twist angles, in which interlayer moiré patterns are realized along a helical path on a nanowire instead of a planar interface.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Sutter & Shawn Wimer & Eli Sutter, 2019. "Chiral twisted van der Waals nanowires," Nature, Nature, vol. 570(7761), pages 354-357, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:570:y:2019:i:7761:d:10.1038_s41586-019-1147-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1147-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Manzhang Xu & Hongjia Ji & Lu Zheng & Weiwei Li & Jing Wang & Hanxin Wang & Lei Luo & Qianbo Lu & Xuetao Gan & Zheng Liu & Xuewen Wang & Wei Huang, 2024. "Reconfiguring nucleation for CVD growth of twisted bilayer MoS2 with a wide range of twist angles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Jing Ai & Xueliang Zhang & Te Bai & Qing Shen & Peter Oleynikov & Yingying Duan & Osamu Terasaki & Shunai Che & Lu Han, 2022. "Synchronous quantitative analysis of chiral mesostructured inorganic crystals by 3D electron diffraction tomography," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. You Meng & Xiaocui Li & Xiaolin Kang & Wanpeng Li & Wei Wang & Zhengxun Lai & Weijun Wang & Quan Quan & Xiuming Bu & SenPo Yip & Pengshan Xie & Dong Chen & Dengji Li & Fei Wang & Chi-Fung Yeung & Chan, 2023. "Van der Waals nanomesh electronics on arbitrary surfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.

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