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This work demonstrates APCVD synthesis of stable 2D CrOCl, a magnetic oxyhalide for spintronics and quantum devices. It reveals controllable gas-phase growth, with characterization confirming high-quality CrOCl free from Cr₂O₃and oxidation. 

We investigated the formation of Schottky barriers at the interface between rare-earth tritelluride (RTe3) crystals and n-type silicon (n-Si) substrates. This study explores the rectifying characteristics of RTe3/n-Si junctions (R = Dy, Ho, Er) and their relation to the charge density wave (CDW) transition. Using the thermionic emission model, we analyzed current–voltage (I–V) measurements to obtain the Schottky barrier height (ϕSBH) and the ideality factor (η). The temperature dependence of the extracted ϕSBH and η reveals kink features near the CDW transition temperature. The Schottky–Mott model is employed to explain these kink features in the derivatives of ϕSBH and 1/η and attributes them to changes in the work function of RTe3 during the CDW transition. Our findings suggest that Schottky junctions can be utilized to probe the electronic states of RTe3, enabling potential RTe3 device applications in electronics and optoelectronics. 

Abstract Excitons in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have offered an attractive platform for optoelectronic and valleytronic devices. Further realizations of correlated phases of excitons promise device concepts not possible in the single particle picture. Here we report tunable exciton “spin” orders in WSe₂/WS₂moiré superlattices. We find evidence of an in-plane (xy) order of exciton “spin”—here, valley pseudospin—around exciton fillingv_ex = 1, which strongly suppresses the out-of-plane “spin” polarization. Upon increasingv_exor applying a small magnetic field of ~10 mT, it transitions into an out-of-plane ferromagnetic (FM-z) spin order that spontaneously enhances the “spin” polarization, i.e., the circular helicity of emission light is higher than the excitation. The phase diagram is qualitatively captured by a spin-1/2 Bose–Hubbard model and is distinct from the fermion case. Our study paves the way for engineering exotic phases of matter from correlated spinor bosons, opening the door to a host of unconventional quantum devices. 

Semiconductor moiré superlattices provide a versatile platform to engineer quantum solids composed of artificial atoms on moiré sites. Previous studies have mostly focused on the simplest correlated quantum solid—the Fermi-Hubbard model—in which intra-atom interactions are simplified to a single onsite repulsion energyU. Here we report the experimental observation of Wigner molecular crystals emerging from multielectron artificial atoms in twisted bilayer tungsten disulfide moiré superlattices. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we demonstrate that Wigner molecules appear in multielectron artificial atoms when Coulomb interactions dominate. The array of Wigner molecules observed in a moiré superlattice comprises a crystalline phase of electrons: the Wigner molecular crystal, which is shown to be highly tunable through mechanical strain, moiré period, and carrier charge type. 

Two-dimensional strongly interacting electrons crystalize into a solid phase known as the Wigner crystal at low densities and form a Fermi liquid at high densities. At intermediate densities, the two-dimensional solid evolves into a strongly correlated liquid phase around a critical density. We observed this quantum melting of a disordered Wigner solid in bilayer molybdenum diselenide (MoSe₂) using a noninvasive scanning tunneling microscopy imaging technique. At low densities, the Wigner solid forms nanocrystalline domains pinned by local disorder. It exhibits a quantum densification behavior with increased densities in the solid phase. Above a threshold density, the Wigner solid melts locally and enters a mixed phase in which solid and liquid regions coexist. The liquid regions expand and form a percolation network at even higher densities. 

Abstract Moiré superlattices of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides enable unprecedented spatial control of electron wavefunctions, leading to emerging quantum states. The breaking of translational symmetry further introduces a new degree of freedom: high symmetry moiré sites of energy minima behaving as spatially separated quantum dots. We demonstrate the superposition between two moiré sites by constructing a trilayer WSe 2 /monolayer WS 2 moiré heterojunction. The two moiré sites in the first layer WSe 2 interfacing WS 2 allow the formation of two different interlayer excitons, with the hole residing in either moiré site of the first layer WSe 2 and the electron in the third layer WSe 2 . An electric field can drive the hybridization of either of the interlayer excitons with the intralayer excitons in the third WSe 2 layer, realizing the continuous tuning of interlayer exciton hopping between two moiré sites and a superposition of the two interlayer excitons, distinctively different from the natural trilayer WSe 2 .