Strain-Induced Moire Polarization Vortices in Twisted-Multilayer WSe₂.

ABSTRACT: Moiré superlattices in 2D van der Waals (vdW) materials enable the engineering of local polarization textures and electrostatic potential landscapes. While polarization vortices are demonstrated in bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), their formation mechanisms in multilayers remain unclear. Here, it is shown that in multi-twisted small-angle multilayer WSe₂, nanoscale strain fields, not twist alone, govern the emergence, and stability of polarization vortices. Using 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) with an electron microscope pixel array detector (EMPAD), local electrostatic potential variations and strain distributions are spatially resolved with nanometer precision. It is found that vortex-like polarization textures emerge exclusively in regi

SUBMITTER: Sangers JJM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12508720 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature