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Breaking the symmetry of colloidal 2D nanoplatelets: Twist induced quantum coupling

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Abstract

Twist provides a new degree of freedom for nanomaterial modifications, which can provide novel physical properties. Here, colloidal two-dimensional (2D) twisted CdSe nanoplatelets (NPLs) are successfully fabricated and their morphology can change from totally flat to edge-twisted, and then to middle-twisted with prolonged reaction time. By combining experiments and corresponding theoretical analyses, we have established the length-dependent relationships between the surface energy and twist, with a critical lateral dimension of 30 nm. We found that the defects formed during the synthesis process play a vital role in generating intense stress that develops a strong torsion tensor around the edges, resulting in edge-twisted and final middle-twisted NPLs. Furthermore, due to the geometric asymmetry of twisted NPLs, the dissymmetry factor of single particle NPLs can reach up to 0.334. Specifically, quantum coupling occurs in middle-twisted NPLs by twisting one parent NPL into two daughter NPLs, which are structurally and electronically coupled. This work not only further deepens our understanding of the twist mechanism of 2D NPLs during colloidal synthesis, but also opens a pathway for applications using twistronics and quantum technology.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. Z210018), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 62105025, 12172047, 62127817, and 22173009), the Beijing Institute of Technology Research Fund Program for Young Scholars (No. 3040011182113). The authors would like to acknowledge the Experimental Center of Advanced Materials of Beijing Institute of Technology for the support in materials synthesis and characterization. We also acknowledge Dr. Xiangmin Hu for the helpful discussion. Theoretical calculations were performed using resources of the Supercomputer Centre in Chongqing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Zahid Nazir, Mingrui Liu & Haizheng Zhong

  2. MIIT Key Laboratory for Low-dimensional Quantum Structure and Devices, School of Optics and Photonics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Gaoling Yang

  3. School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Yingzhuo Lun, Shuqi Li & Jiawang Hong

  4. State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

    Jialu Li, Guofeng Zhang & Liantuan Xiao

  5. Advanced Research Institute of Multidisciplinary Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Gang Tang

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  1. Zahid Nazir
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  2. Yingzhuo Lun
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  3. Jialu Li
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Correspondence to Gaoling Yang, Guofeng Zhang or Jiawang Hong.

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Nazir, Z., Lun, Y., Li, J. et al. Breaking the symmetry of colloidal 2D nanoplatelets: Twist induced quantum coupling. Nano Res. 16, 10522–10529 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5529-x

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