Strain-gated nonlinear Hall effect in two-dimensional MoSe2/WSe2 van der Waals heterostructure

It is recently found that the Hall effect can survive in the presence of time-reversal symmetry but with inversion-symmetry breaking, which is known as the nonlinear Hall effect. So far, the studies concerning the nonlinear Hall effect are mainly focused on the homogeneous systems, while less attention has been paid to the van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure, which in fact naturally breaks the spatial inversion symmetry. In this study, we systematically study the nonlinear electric response in 1T'-phase MoSe2/WSe2 vdW heterostructure. Our results demonstrate that MoSe2/WSe2 vdW heterostructure owns a large Berry curvature dipole, which is comparable with those of homogeneous multilayers and much larger than that predicted for monolayers under the in-plane uniaxial strain. In addition, the nonlinear Hall response in vdW heterostructure is sensitive to the relative position between the Fermi energy and tilted Dirac cones, and can be effectively manipulated from positive to negative values by applying an out-of-plane strain. Further study indicates that this can be ascribed to the charge transfer within the vdW interlayer. Based on these findings, our work provides a fundamental understanding of the nature of strain-gated nonlinear Hall effect in vdW heterostructures, which may facilitate the design of novel high-frequency nanodevices.

Automated summary

The study systematically investigates the nonlinear electric response in 1T'-phase MoSe2/WSe2 vdW heterostructure, revealing its large Berry curvature dipole and sensitivity to applied strain. The nonlinear Hall response in vdW heterostructure can be effectively manipulated and understood through charge transfer mechanisms within the interlayer region. These findings provide a fundamental understanding of the strain-gated nonlinear Hall effect in vdW heterostructures, which may offer insights for the design of novel high-frequency nanodevices.