Disorder- and Interaction-Driven Quantum Criticality in WSe2

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A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
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Embargo ends: 2026-03-21

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en

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10

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ACS Nano, Volume 19, issue 12, pp. 11728-11737

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Quantum fluctuations resulting from strong Coulomb interactions or strong disorders lead to quantum phase transitions (QPTs) in 2D materials. However, understanding of disorder- and interaction-driven QPTs remains a fundamental challenge in 2D materials owing to the presence of strong disorder and strong Coulomb interactions. Here, we study the systematic interplay of strong disorder and strong Coulomb interactions by controlling the thickness of WSe2 to elucidate the disorder- and interaction-driven metal-insulator QPTs. An observation of metal-insulator transitions (MITs) with a conductivity of ∼e2/h in thin-WSe2 agrees with the Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit, excluding bad-metal behavior; conversely, MITs with a conductivity of <e2/h demonstrate the bad-metal behavior in thick-WSe2. We observe the distinct temperature dependences of resistivity, which unveil anomalous metallic transport in WSe2. Furthermore, the emergence of the metallic glass phase (MGP) in thin-WSe2 underscores the significant role of strong disorder and strong Coulomb interactions. Contrarily, the absence of the MGP in thick-WSe2 suggests that the Coulomb interactions dominate over the disorder. Finally, the successful scaling collapse of conductivity reveals the disorder-dominated quantum criticality in thin-WSe2 and interaction-driven Mott quantum criticality in thick-WSe2. This study provides compelling evidence that thickness-dependent WSe2 could be an exciting testbed to understand anomalous metallic transport and metal-insulator QPTs in 2D materials.

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Publisher Copyright: © 2025 American Chemical Society. | openaire: EC/H2020/834742/EU//ATOP | openaire: EC/H2020/872049/EU//IPN-Bio

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Ali, N, Ali, F, Choi, H, Waheed, S, Huang, Y, Nigmatulin, F, Wang, Z, Park, H, Shin, H, Lee, K, Ahmed, F, Kang, B, Sun, Z & Yoo, W J 2025, 'Disorder- and Interaction-Driven Quantum Criticality in WSe 2', ACS Nano, vol. 19, no. 12, pp. 11728-11737. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c12942