Van der Waals heterostructures is a unique class of layered artificial solids that offers the possibility of manipulating their physical properties via controlled composition, order and relative rotation of adjacent atomic planes. Here we use atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy to reveal the lattice reconstruction in twisted MoS 2 and WS 2 bilayers. For 3R stacking, a tessellated pattern of mirror reflected triangular 3R domains emerges, separated by a network of partial dislocations for the twist angles θ < 2 •. The electronic properties of these 3R domains appear qualitatively different from 2H TMDs, featuring layer-polarized conduction band states caused by lack of both inversion and mirror symmetry. In contrast, for 2H stacking, stable 2H domains dominate, with nuclei of a second metastable phase. This appears as a kagome-like pattern at θ ∼ 1 • , transitioning at θ → 0 to a hexagonal array of screw dislocations separating large-area 2H domains. The tunneling measurements show that such reconstruction creates strong piezoelectric textures, opening a new avenue for engineering of 2D material properties.

Hexagonal boron nitride is a large band-gap insulating material which complements the electronic and optical properties of graphene and the transition metal dichalcogenides. However, the intrinsic optical properties of monolayer boron nitride remain largely unexplored. In particular, the theoretically expected crossover to a direct-gap in the limit of the single monolayer is presently not confirmed experimentally. Here, in contrast to the technique of exfoliating few-layer 2D hexagonal boron nitride, we exploit the scalable approach of high-temperature molecular beam epitaxy to grow high-quality monolayer boron nitride on graphite substrates. We combine deep-ultraviolet photoluminescence and reflectance spectroscopy with atomic force microscopy to reveal the presence of a direct gap of energy 6.1 eV in the single atomic layers, thus confirming a crossover to direct gap in the monolayer limit.

Twisted heterostructures of two-dimensional crystals offer almost unlimited scope for the design of new metamaterials. Here we demonstrate a room temperature ferroelectric semiconductor that is assembled using mono- or few-layer MoS2. These van der Waals heterostructures feature broken inversion symmetry, which, together with the asymmetry of atomic arrangement at the interface of two 2D crystals, enables ferroelectric domains with alternating out-of-plane polarization arranged into a twist-controlled network. The last can be moved by applying out-of-plane electrical fields, as visualized in situ using channelling contrast electron microscopy. The observed interfacial charge transfer, movement of domain walls and their bending rigidity agree well with theoretical calculations. Furthermore, we demonstrate proof-of-principle field-effect transistors, where the channel resistance exhibits a pronounced hysteresis governed by pinning of ferroelectric domain walls. Our results show a potential avenue towards room temperature electronic and optoelectronic semiconductor devices with built-in ferroelectric memory functions.