Breaking Rotational Symmetry in Supertwisted WS₂ Spirals via Moiré Magnification of Intrinsic Heterostrain

Abstract

Twisted stacking of van der Waals materials with moiré superlattices offers a new way to tailor their physical properties via engineering of the crystal symmetry. Unlike well-studied twisted bilayers, little is known about the overall symmetry and symmetry-driven physical properties of continuously supertwisted multilayer structures. Here, using polarization-resolved second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy, we report threefold (<i>C</i>₃) rotational symmetry breaking in supertwisted WS₂ spirals grown on non-Euclidean surfaces, contrasting the intact symmetry of individual monolayers. This symmetry breaking is attributed to a geometrical magnifying effect in which small relative strain between adjacent twisted layers (heterostrain), verified by Raman spectroscopy and multiphysics simulations, generates significant distortion in the moiré pattern. Density-functional theory calculations can explain the <i>C</i>₃ symmetry breaking and unusual SHG response by the interlayer wave function coupling. These findings thus pave the way for further developments in the so-called "3D twistronics".