Engineering interface polarization

Abstract

Interface Physics Many properties can emerge at the interface of van der Waals materials created by rotating the layers of a single material or by creating heterointerfaces between different materials. Akamatsu et al. formed an interface that intentionally broke in-plane inversion symmetry by combining crystals of tungsten diselenide with threefold rotational symmetry and black phosphorus with twofold rotational symmetry. This interface creates in-plane electronic polarization that results in a spontaneous photovoltaic effect only along the polarization direction. This effect was explained in terms of a shift current mechanism. Science , this issue p. [68][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaz9146