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Atomic arrangements at interfaces play a key role in two-dimensional (2D) multilayers, where misalignment-induced moiré structures govern the band structure and emergent interfacial properties. Therefore, understanding the atomic-scale mechanisms of 2D moiré formation and rearrangement is critical to precisely and reliably tailor the properties in 2D systems. Here, we visualize, atom-by-atom, thermally-induced structural evolution of twisted bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TB-TMDs), WSe2/WSe2 and WSe2/MoSe2 using in-situ transmission electron microscopy. We find that the moiré superlattice locally converts into nanoscale aligned domains at temperatures as low as 200°C. This process occurs by nucleating a new grain within one of the TMD monolayers, whose crystal orientation is templated by the other. The aligned domains grow through collective rotation of moiré supercells and hopping of 5|7 defect pairs at moiré boundaries. This new mechanism provides insight into the atomic-scale interactions that control moiré structures and illustrates the potential to pattern the interfacial structure and properties of 2D materials at the nanoscale.

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• Creative Commons BY-NC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
  

Keyword: Atomic-scale mechanisms, moiré materials, electron microscopy

Date published: 2024-03-29

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Journal:

• Science Advances (ISSN: 23752548) vol. 10 issue. 13 eadk1874

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Manuscript type: Publisher's version (Version of record)

MDR DOI:

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adk1874

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Updated at: 2025-02-23 22:46:14 +0900

Published on MDR: 2025-02-23 22:46:14 +0900