Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Commensurate-incommensurate transition in graphene on hexagonal boron nitride. / Woods, C. R.; Britnell, L.; Eckmann, A. et al.
In: Nature Physics, Vol. 10, No. 6, 06.2014, p. 451-456.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Commensurate-incommensurate transition in graphene on hexagonal boron nitride
AU - Woods, C. R.
AU - Britnell, L.
AU - Eckmann, A.
AU - Ma, R. S.
AU - Lu, J. C.
AU - Guo, H. M.
AU - Lin, X.
AU - Yu, G. L.
AU - Cao, Y.
AU - Gorbachev, R. V.
AU - Kretinin, A. V.
AU - Park, J.
AU - Ponomarenko, L. A.
AU - Katsnelson, M. I.
AU - Gornostyrev, Yu. N.
AU - Watanabe, K.
AU - Taniguchi, T.
AU - Casiraghi, C.
AU - Gao, H-J.
AU - Geim, A. K.
AU - Novoselov, K. S.
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - When a crystal is subjected to a periodic potential, under certain circumstances it can adjust itself to follow the periodicity of the potential, resulting in a commensurate state. Of particular interest are topological defects between the two commensurate phases, such as solitons and domain walls. Here we report a commensurate-incommensurate transition for graphene on top of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Depending on the rotation angle between the lattices of the two crystals, graphene can either stretch to adapt to a slightly different hBN periodicity (for small angles, resulting in a commensurate state) or exhibit little adjustment (the incommensurate state). In the commensurate state, areas with matching lattice constants are separated by domain walls that accumulate the generated strain. Such soliton-like objects are not only of significant fundamental interest, but their presence could also explain recent experiments where electronic and optical properties of graphene-hBN heterostructures were observed to be considerably altered.
AB - When a crystal is subjected to a periodic potential, under certain circumstances it can adjust itself to follow the periodicity of the potential, resulting in a commensurate state. Of particular interest are topological defects between the two commensurate phases, such as solitons and domain walls. Here we report a commensurate-incommensurate transition for graphene on top of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Depending on the rotation angle between the lattices of the two crystals, graphene can either stretch to adapt to a slightly different hBN periodicity (for small angles, resulting in a commensurate state) or exhibit little adjustment (the incommensurate state). In the commensurate state, areas with matching lattice constants are separated by domain walls that accumulate the generated strain. Such soliton-like objects are not only of significant fundamental interest, but their presence could also explain recent experiments where electronic and optical properties of graphene-hBN heterostructures were observed to be considerably altered.
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U2 - 10.1038/NPHYS2954
DO - 10.1038/NPHYS2954
M3 - Journal article
VL - 10
SP - 451
EP - 456
JO - Nature Physics
JF - Nature Physics
SN - 1745-2473
IS - 6
ER -