Sliding Disassembly of van der Waals Heterostructures

Many recent advances in our understanding of two-dimensional electron systems stem from van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures. The assembly process relies on the weak bonding across interfaces between layered vdW compounds, making it possible to construct exceptionally clean heterostructures from chemically and structurally distinct materials. Here we demonstrate an additional, dynamic degree of freedom afforded by vdW interfaces, wherein we use microstructured polymer stamps to disassemble and reconfigure vdW heterostructures by deterministic, reversible, and nondestructive sliding. We apply this technique to alter the dielectric environment of monolayer graphene, expose an encapsulated H-WSe2 monolayer characterized by electronic transport for scanning tunneling microscopy measurements, and facilitate the preparation of air-sensitive monolayer 1T'-WTe2 devices. We also show that sliding preserves underlying moiré patterns, and, moreover, can be used to produce twisted vdW interfaces. Together these demonstrations suggest a new paradigm for assembling and dynamically modifying vdW heterostructures.