In this PhD thesis, the recombination of different atomic lattices in stacked 2D materials such as twisted bilayer graphene is studied. Using the different possibilities of Low-Energy Electron... Show moreIn this PhD thesis, the recombination of different atomic lattices in stacked 2D materials such as twisted bilayer graphene is studied. Using the different possibilities of Low-Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM), the domain forming between the two atomic layers with small differences is studied. Superlattices in three such 2D material systems are studied. In twisted bilayer graphene, the small difference is caused by a twist of approximately one degree between the layers. In graphene on SiC, the difference is caused by the lattice mismatch between a buffer layer bound to the substrate and the next graphene layer. For both, we show that domains of different shapes and sizes occur and relate them to strain and lattice mismatch. The third system studied is tantalum disulfide. In this layered material, two different superlattices occur: a superlattice between atomic layers with different atomic arrangements in the layers, so-called polytypes, and the superlattices between the atomic lattice and the Charge Density Waves (CDW). CDWs cause a large temperature dependent resistivity change. The influence of a mixture of different polytypes on the precise CDW states is studied using LEEM spectroscopy and local Low-Energy Electron Diffraction. Show less
This thesis describes the work performed on crystals with a phase transition to a Charge-Density Wave (CDW). The electrical transport properties change when crystal sizes are smaller than... Show moreThis thesis describes the work performed on crystals with a phase transition to a Charge-Density Wave (CDW). The electrical transport properties change when crystal sizes are smaller than characteristic length scales for CDWs, typically 1 micrometer. In contrast to metals, semiconductors and superconductors, reduction of sizes is relatively unexplored in the case of CDWs. The development of methods to reduce sizes of CDW crystals are described in this thesis. Numerous finite-size transport effects are found as a result of the development of these new fabrication methods. These finite-size effects have led to the development of models to describe the microscopic aspects of CDWs. Show less
