Size Dependence of Charge-Density-Wave Orders in Single-Layer NbSe 2 Hetero/Homophase Junctions.

Controlling charge-density-wave (CDW) orders in two-dimensional (2D) crystals has attracted a great deal of interest because of their fundamental physics and their demand inse in miniaturized devices. In this work, we systematically studied the size-dependent CDW orders in single-layer hetero/homo-NbSe 2 stacking junctions. We found that the CDW orders in the top 1T-NbSe 2 layer of the junctions are highly dependent on its lateral size. For the 1T/2H-NbSe 2 heterojunction, the critical lateral size of 1T-NbSe 2 islands for the formation of well-defined CDW orders is ∼26 nm, whereas below 15 nm, the CDW orders melt. However, for the 1T/1T-NbSe 2 homojunction, the CDW orders in the islands can persist even with a lateral size of <11 nm. Our findings illuminate the fresh phenomenon of size-dependent CDW orders existing in 2D van der Waals hetero/homojunctions and provide useful information for the control of CDW orders.