Multi-moiré torsional force microscopy as a tool to understand strain

ORAL

Abstract

Over the past decade, electronic transport has revealed many novel correlated and topological states in moiré systems. These states can be strongly influenced by strain in the constituent layers [1].

Torsional force microscopy (TFM) is a non-destructive scanning probe technique that allows direct imaging of the moiré superlattice [2]. Using TFM, we image both graphene-graphene and graphene-BN moiré patterns over the same area. This allows spatially mapping strain and twist with few assumptions. The resulting maps inform the choice of locations for forming devices to study in cryogenic electronic transport measurements and allow correlating spatial structure with transport properties.

[1] Wang, X. et al. Unusual magnetotransport in twisted bilayer graphene from strain-induced open Fermi surfaces. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120, e2307151120 (2023).

[2] Pendharkar, M. et al. Torsional force microscopy of van der Waals moirés and atomic lattices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121, e2314083121 (2024).

*This work is supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under Contract DE-AC02-76SF00515. Infrastructure was funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant No. GBMF9460. Part of this work was performed at the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF), supported by the National Science Foundation under award ECCS-2026822.

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Presenters

  • Benjamin H Alexander

    • Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, Stanford University

Authors

  • Benjamin H Alexander

    • Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, Stanford University

  • Steven Tran

    • Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, Stanford University

  • Rupini Kamat

    • Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, Stanford University

  • Jan-Lucas Uslu

    • Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, Stanford University

  • Chaitrali Duse

    • Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, Stanford University

  • Mihir Pendharkar

    • Stanford University

  • Kenji Watanabe

    • National Institute for Materials Science
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute of Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    • National Institute for Materials Science
    • Research Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science
    • International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute of Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
    • Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute of Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan

  • David Goldhaber-Gordon

    • Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials & Energy Sciences, Stanford University