Built-in Bernal gap in large-angle-twisted monolayer-bilayer graphene

Abstract

Atomically thin materials offer multiple opportunities for layer-by-layer control of their electronic properties. While monolayer graphene (MLG) is a zero-gap system, Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene (BLG) acquires a finite band gap when the symmetry between the layers’ potential energy is broken, usually, via a displacement electric field applied in double-gate devices. Here, we introduce a twistronic stack comprising both MLG and BLG, synthesized via chemical vapor deposition, showing a Bernal gap in the absence of external fields. Although a large (~30°) twist angle decouples the MLG and BLG electronic bands near Fermi level, proximity-induced energy shifts in the outermost layers result in a built-in asymmetry, which requires a displacement field of 0.14 V/nm to be compensated. The latter corresponds to a ~10 meV intrinsic BLG gap, a value confirmed by our thermal-activation measurements. The present results highlight the role of structural asymmetry and encapsulating environment, expanding the engineering toolbox for monolithically-grown graphene multilayers. Atomically thin materials offer unique opportunities for controlling electronic properties layer by layer. This study introduces a monolithically grown twistronic stack of monolayer and bilayer graphene, revealing that structural asymmetry can induce a band gap in bilayer graphene without external fields.