Dynamics of a jointly commensurate moiré charge density wave
Abstract The advent of two-dimensional moiré systems has revolutionized the exploration of phenomena arising from strong correlations and nontrivial band topology. Recently, a moiré superstructure formed by two coexisting charge density waves with slightly mismatched wavevectors has been realized. These incommensurate charge density waves can collectively exhibit commensurability, forming a jointly commensurate charge density wave that provides a paradigm for controlling moiré potential and periodicity. Here, we use time-resolved diffraction to probe the light-induced dynamics of the jointly commensurate charge density wave in EuTe 4 . Our measurements distinguish the instantaneous quenching of its amplitude, as verified by time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, from the slower evolution of phase fluctuations. Moreover, while the wavevector remains locked upon photoexcitation, the correlation length decreases exclusively perpendicular to the wavevector, revealing the formation of shear-type defects. Together, our multimodal approach reconstructs the temporal evolution of the jointly commensurate charge density wave, highlighting its robustness out of equilibrium and providing insights into the optical manipulation of moiré materials through defect control.
Authors
- Suchismita Sarker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8820-1143)
- Stephen Weathersby (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0253-4781)
- Nanlin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2584-9265)
- Nuh Gedik
- Honglie Ning (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4867-0751)
- Doron Azoury (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3817-6832)
- Qiaomei Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1564-5683)
- Masataka Mogi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4193-1787)
- Kyoung Hun Oh
- Patrick L. Kramer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8589-1540)
- Xiaozhe Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6844-608X)
- Duan Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5926-9870)
- Dong Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4353-4518)
- Hoyoung Jang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7160-9038)
- Hyun-Woo J. Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4888-5974)
- Gyeongbo Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6853-7638)
- B. J. Kim
- Jaehwon Kim
- Alfred Zong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2047-3801)
- Hyeongi Choi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2260-8630)
- Yifan Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2395-3053)
- Xinxin Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1077-809X)
- Jacob P. C. Ruff
- Seunghyeok Ha
- Baiqing Lv
Institutions
- Pohang University of Science and Technology (KR)
- Peking University (CN)
- Cornell University (US)
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US)
- Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (CN)
- Pohang Accelerator Laboratory
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2026-09-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-77670-2
- Primary Topic
- Diamond and Carbon-based Materials Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Research Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Great Southern Development Commission, Government of Western Australia
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering