Direct fabrication of graphite-mica heterojunction and in situ control of their relative orientation

Abstract

In this paper, we directly construct monocrystalline van der Waals heterojunctions by transferring microscale graphite flakes onto millimeter-sized muscovite mica surfaces. The relative orientation between the surfaces is controlled by sliding the graphite flakes with elaborate manipulation. Experimentally the rotation angle of the flake is found to increase with sliding duration and eccentricity. A parameter-free theoretical model is developed, showing good agreement with experimental observations quantitatively. Our results can not only be used to control the frictional and electrical properties of van der Waals heterojunctions via their relative orientation, but also provide a new way in distinguishing friction resulted from edges or from the in-plane interactions.