Twistronics: Manipulating the electronic properties of two-dimensional layered structures through their twist angle

The ability in experiments to control the relative twist angle between successive layers in two-dimensional (2D) materials offers an approach to manipulating their electronic properties; we refer to this approach as ``twistronics.'' A major challenge to theory is that, for arbitrary twist angles, the resulting structure involves incommensurate (aperiodic) 2D lattices. Here, we present a general method for the calculation of the electronic density of states of aperiodic 2D layered materials, using parameter-free Hamiltonians derived from ab initio density-functional theory. We use graphene, a semimetal, and ${\mathrm{MoS}}_{2}$, a representative of the transition-metal dichalcogenide family of 2D…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• AR
  Army Research Office

  Award: W911NF-14-0247