Oscillating edge states in one-dimensional MoS₂ nanowires

Reducing the dimensionality of transition metal dichalcogenides to one dimension opens it to structural and electronic modulation related to charge density wave and quantum correlation effects arising from edge states. The greater flexibility of a molecular scale nanowire allows a strain-imposing substrate to exert structural and electronic modulation on it, leading to an interplay between the curvature-induced influences and intrinsic ground-state topology. Herein, the templated growth of MoS₂ nanowire arrays consisting of the smallest stoichiometric MoS₂ building blocks is investigated using scanning tunnelling microscopy and non-contact atomic force microscopy. Our results show that lattice strain imposed on a nanowire causes the energy of the edge states to oscillate periodically along its length in phase with the period of the substrate topographical modulation. This periodic oscillation vanishes when individual MoS₂ nanowires join to form a wider nanoribbon, revealing that the strain-induced modulation depends on in-plane rigidity, which increases with system size.