Global Control of Stacking-Order Phase Transition by Doping and Electric Field in Few-Layer GrapheneClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!
- Hongyuan LiHongyuan LiDepartment of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesGraduate Group in Applied Science and Technology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMaterials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Hongyuan Li
- M. Iqbal Bakti UtamaM. Iqbal Bakti UtamaDepartment of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMaterials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by M. Iqbal Bakti Utama
- Sheng WangSheng WangDepartment of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMaterials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Sheng Wang
- Wenyu ZhaoWenyu ZhaoDepartment of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Wenyu Zhao
- Sihan ZhaoSihan ZhaoDepartment of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Sihan Zhao
- Xiao XiaoXiao XiaoDepartment of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, ChinaMore by Xiao Xiao
- Yue JiangYue JiangDepartment of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, ChinaMore by Yue Jiang
- Lili JiangLili JiangDepartment of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Lili Jiang
- Takashi TaniguchiTakashi TaniguchiNational Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0044, JapanMore by Takashi Taniguchi
- Kenji WatanabeKenji WatanabeNational Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba 305-0044, JapanMore by Kenji Watanabe
- Alexander Weber-BargioniAlexander Weber-BargioniMolecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Alexander Weber-Bargioni
- Alex ZettlAlex ZettlDepartment of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMaterials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesKavli Energy Nano Sciences Institute at the University of California Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Alex Zettl
- Feng Wang*Feng Wang*Email: [email protected]Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMaterials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesKavli Energy Nano Sciences Institute at the University of California Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United StatesMore by Feng Wang
Abstract

The layer stacking order has profound effects on the physical properties of two-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures. For example, graphene multilayers can have distinct electronic band structures and exhibit completely different behaviors depending on the stacking order. Fascinating physical phenomena, such as correlated insulators, superconductors, and ferromagnetism, can also emerge with a periodic variation of the layer stacking order, which is known as the moiré superlattice in van der Waals materials. In this work, we realize the global phase transition between different graphene layer stacking orders and elucidate its microscopic origin. We experimentally determine the energy difference between different stacking orders with the accuracy of μeV/atom. We reveal that both the carrier doping and the electric field can drive the layer-stacking phase transition through different mechanisms: carrier doping can change the energy difference because of a non-negligible work function difference between different stacking orders; the electric field, on the other hand, induces a band-gap opening in ABC-stacked graphene and hence changes the energy difference. Our findings provide a fundamental understanding of the electrically driven stacking-order phase transition in few-layer graphene and demonstrate a reversible and noninvasive method to globally control the stacking order.
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