CSU Physics assistant professor Yulia Maximenko and co-authors published a paper in Physical Review Letters on May 12, 2026, titled “Twist and Strain in Square Moiré Patterns of Stacked Graphene Layers”. In this work, the researchers demonstrate the emergence of strongly correlated electronic behavior and a square moiré lattice in layered twisted graphene systems through tip manipulation in a scanning tunneling microscope. The reversible phenomenon arises from the intricate interplay between strain and twist, which can be precisely controlled at the nanoscale. The authors also develop an accurate theoretical model explaining the observed behavior. This work was partially enabled through a collaboration between the CSU faculty and Pierre Pantaleon from IMDEA Nanociencia during his summer appointment at CSU as a CNS Summer 2025 Internation Scholar.

Read the paper here: Twist and Strain in Square Moir\’e Patterns of Stacked Graphene Layers | Phys. Rev. Lett.