@article{Xu2019, 
author = {Haowei Xu and Jian Zhou and Yifei Li and Rafael Jaramillo and Ju Li},
title = {Optomechanical control of stacking patterns of h-BN bilayer},
year = {2019},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {12},
number = {10},
pages = {2634-2639},
keywords = {phase change materials, two-dimensional materials, opto-mechanics, density functional theory},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.1007/s12274-019-2500-y},
doi = {10.1007/s12274-019-2500-y},
abstract = {Few-layer two-dimensional (2D) materials usually have different (meta)-stable stacking patterns, which have distinct electronic and optical properties. Inspired by optical tweezers, we show that a laser with selected frequency can modify the generalized stacking-fault energy landscape of bilayer hexagonal boron nitride (BBN), by coupling to the slip-dependent dielectric response. Consequently, BBN can be reversibly and barrier-freely switched between its stacking patterns in a controllable way. We simulate the dynamics of the stacking transition with a simplified equation of motion and demonstrate that it happens at picosecond timescale. When one layer of BBN has a nearly-free surface boundary condition, BBN can be locked in its metastable stacking modes for a long time. Such a fast, reversible and non-volatile transition makes BBN a potential media for data storage and optical phase mask.}
}