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Updated: Sep 30, 2025

Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
Engineering Interlayer Electron-Phonon Coupling in WS2/BN Heterostructures
Yifei Li1, Xiaowei Zhang2,3, Jinhuan Wang4
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
In van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, the interlayer electron-phonon coupling (EPC) provides one unique channel to nonlocally engineer these elementary particles. However, limited by the stringent occurrence conditions, the efficient engineering of interlayer EPC remains elusive. Here we report a multitier engineering of interlayer EPC in WS2/boron nitride (BN) heterostructures, including isotope enrichments of BN substrates, temperature, and high-pressure tuning. The hyperfine isotope dependence of Raman intensities was unambiguously revealed. In combination with theoretical calculations, we anticipate that WS2/BN supercells could induce Brillouin-zone-folded phonons that contribute to the interlayer coupling, leading to a complex nature of broad Raman peaks. We further demonstrate the significance of a previously unexplored parameter, the interlayer spacing. By varying the temperature and high pressure, we effectively manipulated the strengths of EPC with on/off capabilities, indicating critical thresholds of the layer-layer spacing for activating and strengthening interlayer EPC. Our findings provide new opportunities to engineer vdW heterostructures with controlled interlayer coupling.
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