PDF Summaries - vdW materials

Author(s): Wenlu Lin, Wenxuan Wang, Shimin Cao, Miao Liang, Lili Zhao, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Jinhua Gao, Jianhao Chen, Xiaobo Lu, and Yang Liu

In this study, we experimentally explore the band structure of chirally twisted triple bilayer graphene, a moiré system consisting of three helically stacked Bernal bilayer graphene. We verify the existence of flat bands at the charge neutral point and accurately measure the gaps both between these …

[Phys. Rev. B 112, L241109] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Author(s): Adarsh S. Patri and Marcel Franz

Recent experiments in rhombohedrally stacked multilayer graphene heterostructures have reported signatures of chiral superconductivity, emerging from a spin- and valley-polarized normal state with broken time-reversal symmetry and an associated anomalous Hall effect. These findings bring into focus …

[Phys. Rev. B 112, 214505] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Mitochondria‐targeted drug delivery is a promising strategy to potentiate anti‐tumor efficacy. Current mitochondria‐targeting nano‐delivery strategies are mainly based on modification of lipophilic cation or targeting peptides. Due to endo/lysosomal capture and size limitation from mitochondrial outer membrane pores, neither approach guarantees efficient mitochondrial entry of the modified nanosystems. Herein, an ultrasmall hydrophobic cationic graphene oxide (GO‐ODA) based nanoplatform is developed for cascading of endo/lysosomal escape and precise inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) targeting. The functional cascading originates from the strong Brownian motion and high edge density of the ultrasmall hydrophobic cationic GO‐ODA, which increases the frequency of edge‐induced scratching and lipid extraction against bio‐membranes during its random movement. Photosensitizers (PSs) with different charges are used as model therapeutics and loaded onto GO‐ODA surface, followed by co‐encapsulated within hyaluronic acid based amphiphile (IPHD) to form IPHD/GO‐ODA@PSs nanoparticles. The PSs loading dose‐optimized GO‐ODA@PSs are validated to feature membrane‐interactive properties for penetration, and prominently accumulate to IMM with inherent electronegativity. Upon laser irradiation, GO‐ODA@PSs induce severe mitochondrial dysfunction both in vitro and in vivo, and thus not only potentiate tumor inhibition, but also significantly enhance tumor immunogenicity through activating the cGAS‐STING pathway and GSDME‐mediated pyroptosis. It ultimately elicits a strong systemic antitumor immune response.

Graphene is a promising material for next‐generation extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pellicles due to its excellent optical transparency, mechanical, and thermal stability under intense EUV radiation. However, challenges remain in precisely controlling its thickness at large scales and preventing hydrogen radical‐induced degradation. In this study, a multilayer graphene composite with protective capping layers, enabling nanometer‐scale thickness control is devloped. A 10‐layer, 5 nm thick graphene film achieves ≈92% transparency and an effective Young's modulus of 220 GPa. When integrated into a free‐standing molybdenum (Mo)/graphene/silicon nitride (SiN) composite, the Young's modulus increases by 29%, and the fracture load improves by 840% compared to a single‐layer SiN membrane. Molecular dynamics simulations confirm that the enhanced mechanical strength mainly results from graphene's intrinsic properties. Additionally, a full‐size pellicle with five graphene layers and a 100 nm SiN layer are fabricated, which maintains over 90% EUV transparency on a 7 nm SiN substrate. These results suggest that multilayer graphene membranes can overcome current EUV pellicle limitations and support the broader commercialization of EUV lithography in the near future.

Nature Materials, Published online: 05 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02411-7

Cryogenic conditions limit molecular diffusion, inhibiting self-healing in most molecular systems. Here the authors present an organic molecular crystal capable of autonomous recovery at 77 K due to strong dipole–dipole interactions between aligned molecular layers.

To address the low charge capture capacity and poor wear resistance of triboelectric materials, lithium‐ion intercalation is employed to synthesize monolayer–multilayer hybrid MoS 2 nanosheets. Density functional theory calculations elucidate layer‐dependent charge transfer and band structure modulation in the exfoliated MoS 2 , providing theoretical support for enhanced surface charge capture. By leveraging MoS 2 ’s exceptional charge‐trapping capability and tribological advantages, a MoS 2 /polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composite film exhibiting high negative triboelectric polarity and ultralow friction characteristics is developed. The optimized 2.8 wt.% film exhibits a negative surface potential of −0.31 kV and a coefficient of friction (COF) of 0.07, representing a 416.7% increase in the absolute value of negative surface potential and a 65.5% reduction in COF compared to pure PTFE. The wind‐driven triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) delivers 452 V, 58 µA, and 6.98 mW at 19.5 m s −1 , maintaining ≈95% of its initial open‐circuit voltage over 21.6 million cycles. A self‐powered heart rate monitor belt and respiratory sensor are fabricated, highlighting its potential for physiological monitoring. This work provides a strategy for triboelectric material design, offering a reference for developing high‐performance and ultra‐durable TENGs.

Author(s): Zhe Li, Haijun Cao, and Sheng Meng

The $\mathrm{Γ}$-point topology represents a significant segment in the family of topological insulators. Here we provide a comprehensive prediction of light-induced $\mathrm{Γ}$-point-based topological manipulation in trigonal bismuthene and its derivatives. Our findings unveil a two-stage process …

[Phys. Rev. B 112, 235118] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Author(s): Helong Chen, Meng Ge, Yang Xiao, Degao Xu, Jianing Tan, and Gang Ouyang

The authors demonstrate here that strain-gradient engineering in bent MoSi${}_2$N${}_4$ nanoribbons induces not only self-doping and a nonzero Berry curvature dipole, but also achieves an outstanding flexoelectric power conversion efficiency of 9.05%, the highest among 2D flexophotovoltaic systems. Under circularly polarized light, the bent MoSi${}_2$N${}_4$ photodetector generates a self-powered spin photocurrent. These results advance the fundamental understanding of mechanical-electronic coupling in 2D materials and highlight the potential of MoSi${}_2$N${}_4$ for high-efficiency solar cells, optoelectronics, and spintronic applications.

[Phys. Rev. B 112, 245407] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Twisted bilayer MoTe 2 ( tMoTe 2 ) is an emergent platform for exploring exotic quantum phases driven by the interplay between nontrivial band topology and strong electron correlations. Direct experimental access to its momentum-resolved electronic structure is essential for uncovering the microscopic origins of the correlated topological phases therein. Here, we report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of tMoTe 2 , revealing pronounced twist-angle-dependent band reconstruction shaped by orbital character, interlayer coupling, and moiré potential modulation. Density functional theory captures the qualitative evolution, yet underestimates key energy scales across twist angles, highlighting the importance of electronic correlations. Notably, the hole effective mass at the K point exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on twist angle, peaking near 2°, consistent with band flattening at the magic angle predicted by continuum models. Via electrostatic gating and surface dosing, we further visualize the evolution of electronic structure versus doping, enabling direct observation of the conduction band minimum and confirm tMoTe 2 as a direct band gap semiconductor. These results establish a spectroscopic foundation for modeling and engineering emergent quantum phases in this moiré platform.

Author(s): Xu-Guang Zhou, Han Li, Chaebin Kim, Akira Matsuo, Kavita Mehlawat, Kazuki Matsui, Zhuo Yang, Atsuhiko Miyata, Gang Su, Koichi Kindo, Je-Geun Park, Yoshimitsu Kohama, Wei Li, and Yasuhiro H. Matsuda

The identification of quantum spin-liquid phases in Kitaev candidate materials remains a major experimental challenge. Since most Kitaev candidates develop antiferromagnetic (AFM) order at low temperatures, currently there is great interest on the field-induced magnetic disordered phase in these com…

[Phys. Rev. B 112, L241108] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Submitted on 2025-12-05, refereeing deadline 2026-01-11.

The Td phase of tungsten ditelluride (WTe2), a noncentrosymmetric transition metal dichalcogenide, hosts rich correlated phenomena, topological states, and nonlinear transport responses. However, the scalable synthesis of high-quality few-layer WTe2 with precise layer control remains challenging. Here, we report a water-assisted chemical vapor deposition approach that deterministically grows monolayer to trilayer Td-WTe2 with controlled flake size and density. Moisture-mediated precursor liquefaction through salt-assisted intermediates enables vapor-liquid-solid growth and tunable layer numbers through a concerted layer growth mode. Transport studies reveal that trilayer WTe2 exhibits a nonlinear Hall effect susceptibility of 1.1 μm·V-1 at 10 K and 0.5 μm·V-1 at 50 K, nearly an order of magnitude higher than that in bilayers, consistent with the calculated Berry curvature dipole enhancement. Layer-dependent microwave rectification further highlights the influence of topological band structure and interlayer coupling. These results establish layer-engineered Td-WTe2 as a promising platform for nonlinear quantum transport and high-frequency optoelectronic applications.

Nature Materials, Published online: 05 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02430-4

Two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-based active arrays made by growing wafer-scale trilayer MoS2 directly on a polyimidine substrate achieve high-fidelity spatiotemporal neuronal monitoring in vitro and in living mice.

Author(s): F. Z. Yang, X. Huang, Hengxin Tan, A. Kundu, S. Kim, M. Thinel, J. Ingham, A. Rajapitamahuni, Y. Q. Cai, C. Nelson, E. Vescovo, W. R. Meier, D. Mandrus, B. R. Ortiz, A. N. Pasupathy, Binghai Yan, and H. Miao

Electron scattering near the Fermi surface strongly reshapes lattice dynamics in quantum materials (see image). By combining real- and momentum-space measurements and first-principle calculations, the authors uncover charge density wave formation in the kagome metal LuNb${}_6$Sn${}_6$. The Fermi surface topology generates frustrated charge correlations near 𝐐${}_H$ that evade ordering, enabled by the complete softening of a flat phonon over wide momenta.

[Phys. Rev. B 112, 245113] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Author(s): Patrick Rupprecht, Francesco Montorsi, Lei Xu, Nicolette G. Puskar, Marco Garavelli, Shaul Mukamel, Niranjan Govind, Daniel M. Neumark, Daniel Keefer, and Stephen R. Leone

Accessing coherences is key to fully understand and control ultrafast dynamics of complex quantum systems like molecules. Most photochemical processes are mediated by conical intersections, which generate coherences between electronic states in molecules. We show with accurate calculations performed…

[Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 233201] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Author(s): Tomomi Furuhashi, Keisuke Hozawa, Yusuke Kozuka, Yoshihiro Tsujimoto, Kazunari Yamaura, and Jun Fujioka

We have investigated the doping-induced variation of magnetic and charge transport properties of single crystalline $\mathrm{Ce}{\mathrm{Co}}_{1−x}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{x}{\mathrm{Ge}}_{3}$ with a noncentrosymmetric tetragonal $\mathrm{Ba}\mathrm{Ni}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{3}$-type structure. The magnetization meas…

[Phys. Rev. B 112, 245116] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

Author(s): Yunpeng Guo, Yulei Han, and Yan-Feng Zhou

A topological Anderson insulator is an intriguing transport phenomenon typically driven by short-range nonmagnetic disorder, and the interplay between disorder and magnetism plays a crucial role in the topological phase diagram of two-dimensional electron systems. Here, by performing nonequilibrium …

[Phys. Rev. B 112, 224205] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025

With the increasing demand for high-performance computing, 2T0C DRAM has been extensively studied for high integration density, low power consumption and non-destructive readout. Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, with ultra-low leakage current, improve the retention characteristics but face limitations in conventional 2D‑based 2T0C cells: the subthreshold operation of positive-threshold transistors at low write voltages reduces read current, introduces nonlinearity, and degrades robustness, and thus requires higher write voltages and increased power consumption. To address this, we propose a hybrid-gate MoS₂ 2T0C DRAM, where a low-leakage Au-gate transistor serves as the write node and a depletion-mode Al-gate transistor functions as the readout node. The device achieves >100 s retention time and reduces the minimum write voltage to 0.2 V, enabling distinguishable 3-bit storage. Furthermore, a 32×32 MoS₂ 2T0C DRAM circuit demonstrates image storage and readout capabilities with <5% bit error rate after 600 s, highlighting its potential for future high-density, low-power memory applications.

Author(s): Yulia E. Kovalenko, Michael V. Yakushev, Vladimir I. Grebennikov, Vladimir A. Golyashov, Vyacheslav V. Marchenkov, Milan Orlita, Yuri S. Ponosov, Evgeniy I. Patrakov, Svetlana G. Titova, Robert W. Martin, Konstantin A. Kokh, Oleg E. Tereshchenko, and Tatyana V. Kuznetsova

The structural, magneto-optical, and magnetotransport properties as well as the electronic band structure of the bulk crystalline topological insulator (TI) ${\mathrm{Sb}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}\mathrm{Se}$, grown by the vertical Bridgman technique, were studied. The high structural quality of the gro…

[Phys. Rev. B 112, 245114] Published Fri Dec 05, 2025