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Stripe phases in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

C. Jin
Z. Tao
T. Li
Y. Xu
Y. Tang
J. Zhu
S. Liu
K. Watanabe
T. Taniguchi
J.C. Hone
L. Fu
J. Shan
K.F. Mak

Abstract

Stripe phases, in which the rotational symmetry of charge density is spontaneously broken, occur in many strongly correlated systems with competing interactions1–11. However, identifying and studying such stripe phases remains challenging. Here we uncover stripe phases in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices by combining optical anisotropy and electronic compressibility measurements. We find strong electronic anisotropy over a large doping range peaked at 1/2 filling of the moiré superlattice. The 1/2 state is incompressible and assigned to an insulating stripe crystal phase. Wide-field imaging reveals domain configurations with a preferential alignment along the high-symmetry axes of the moiré superlattice. Away from 1/2 filling, we observe additional stripe crystals at commensurate filling 1/4, 2/5 and 3/5, and compressible electronic liquid crystal states at incommensurate fillings. Our results demonstrate that two-dimensional semiconductor moiré superlattices are a highly tunable platform from which to study the stripe phases and their interplay with other symmetry breaking ground states. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited part of Springer Nature.

Date Published

Journal

Nature Materials

Volume

20

Issue

7

Number of Pages

940-944,

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85103175352&doi=10.1038%2fs41563-021-00959-8&partnerID=40&md5=a68896fb3312e67c862cc281893858f1

DOI

10.1038/s41563-021-00959-8

Group (Lab)

Jie Shan Group
Kin Fai Mak Group

Funding Source

N00014-18-1-2368 Here
FA9550-20-1-0219
DE-SC0019481
W911NF-17-1-0605
JPMJCR15F3

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