Scientific Achievement

Researchers in the Van der Waals Heterostructures programΒ visualized disordered 2D Wigner solid and its quantum melting by STM VBE tunnel current measurement.

Significance and Impact

Direct imaging of 2D Wigner solid and its quantum melting offers new insight into the quantum behavior of interacting pristine two-dimensional electron gas, the simplest and most studied electron system.

Research Details

  • Visualized correlated electron density distribution using a non-invasive STM technique based on the band-edge tunneling current
  • Observed nanocrystalline Wigner solids at low hole densities due to unavoidable defects present in real materials using bilayer MoSe2 as a model system
  • Revealed a mixed liquid-solid phase when the Wigner solid melts quantum mechanically. The liquid region expands

Publication Details

Z. Xiang, H. Li, J. Xiao, M.H. Naik, Z. Ge, Z. He, S. Chen, J. Nie, S. Li, Y. Jiang, R. Sailus, R. Banerjee, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, S. Tongay, S.G. Louie, M.F. Crommie, and F. Wang, Science (2025).

DOI:10.1126/science.ado7136

Work was performed at the NERSC.