AUTHOR=Link Robert , Marcus Gabriel , Carroll David 

TITLE=Solvothermal growth of moiré superlattices in antimony telluride spiral-type nanoplates

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Materials

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/materials/articles/10.3389/fmats.2022.963775

DOI=10.3389/fmats.2022.963775

ISSN=2296-8016

ABSTRACT=<p>The study of moiré superlattices (MSLs) has surged in recent years, as they have been found to host several emergent quantum phenomena associated with high electron correlations. In this study, we put forward a viable chemical route to the formation of moiré patterns in antimony telluride (Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub>) nanoplates by leveraging screw dislocation-driven growth. These Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> MSLs are synthesized using a scalable, one-pot, colloidal solution-liquid-solid (SLS) procedure. We report twist angles up to 0.52° (estimated using a combination of transmission electron microscope (TEM) image analysis and computer simulation). We investigate the early growth stages of Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> spiral-type nanoplates under TEM, and we detail the growth of Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> spiral-type nanoplates that feature a central nanopore, caused by tandem growth with nanorods. We hope that these methods will facilitate future investigation into the electronic properties of Sb<sub>2</sub>Te<sub>3</sub> MSLs.</p>