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Updated: Jun 29, 2025
Preparation of Large-area Vertical 2D Crystal Hetero-structures Through the Sulfurization of Transition Metal Films for Device Fabrication
Published on: November 28, 2017
Charge state-dependent symmetry breaking of atomic defects in transition metal dichalcogenides
Feifei Xiang1, Lysander Huberich1, Preston A Vargas2
1nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, 8600, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The functionality of atomic quantum emitters is intrinsically linked to their host lattice coordination. Structural distortions that spontaneously break the lattice symmetry strongly impact their optical emission properties and spin-photon interface. Here we report on the direct imaging of charge state-dependent symmetry breaking of two prototypical atomic quantum emitters in mono- and bilayer MoS2 by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM). By changing the built-in substrate chemical potential, different charge states of sulfur vacancies (VacS) and substitutional rhenium dopants (ReMo) can be stabilized. Vac as well as Re and Re exhibit local lattice distortions and symmetry-broken defect orbitals attributed to a Jahn-Teller effect (JTE) and pseudo-JTE, respectively. By mapping the electronic and geometric structure of single point defects, we disentangle the effects of spatial averaging, charge multistability, configurational dynamics, and external perturbations that often mask the presence of local symmetry breaking.
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