Electron-beam induced emergence of mesoscopic ordering in layered MnPS$_{3}$

TL;DR

This paper reveals a new way to induce mesoscopic patterns in layered MnPS$_{3}$ using electron beams, leading to potential control of plasmonic properties and advancing quantum material research.

Contribution

It introduces a novel electron-beam induced mechanism for creating periodic structures in MnPS$_{3}$, distinct from twist-angle methods, with implications for material control and device applications.

Findings

Electron beam induces hexagonal patterns in MnPS$_{3}$

Pattern formation linked to sulfur vacancy creation

Local plasmonic response can be modulated by beam patterning

Abstract

Ordered mesoscale structures in 2D materials induced by small misorientations have opened pathways for a wide variety of novel electronic, ferroelectric, and quantum phenomena. Until now, the only mechanism to induce this periodic ordering was via mechanical rotations between the layers, with the periodicity of the resulting moir\'e pattern being directly related to twist angle. Here we report a fundamentally new mechanism for emergence of mesoscopic periodic patterns in multilayer sulfur-containing metal phosphorous trichalcogenide, MnPS$_{3}$, induced by the electron beam. The formation under the beam of periodic hexagonal patterns with several characteristic length scales, nucleation and transitions between the phases, and local dynamics are demonstrated. The associated mechanisms are attributed to the relative contraction of the layers caused by beam-induced sulphur vacancy formation with subsequent ordering and lattice parameter change. As a result, the plasmonic response of the system is locally altered, suggesting an element of control over plasmon resonances by electron beam patterning. We pose that harnessing this phenomenon provides both insight into fundamental physics of quantum materials and opens a pathway towards device applications by enabling controlled periodic potentials on the atomic scale.