Semiregular tessellation of electronic lattices in untwisted bilayer graphene under anisotropic strain gradients

Sep 30, 2025

Zeyu Liu(刘泽宇)#, Xianghua Kong(孔祥华)#,*, Zhidan Li(李志聃), Zewen Wu(吴泽文), Linwei Zhou(周霖蔚), Cong Wang(王聪), and Wei Ji(季威)*

Two-dimensional (2D) moire superlattices have emerged as a versatile platform for uncovering exotic quantum phases,
many of which arise in bilayer systems exhibiting Archimedean tessellation patterns such as triangular, hexagonal, and
kagome lattices. Here, we propose a strategy to engineer semiregular tessellation patterns in untwisted bilayer graphene
by applying anisotropic epitaxial tensile strain (AETS) along crystallographic directions. Through force-field and first
principles calculations, we demonstrate that AETS can induce a rich variety of semiregular tessellation geometries, includ
ing truncated hextille, prismatic pentagon, and brick-phase arrangements. Characteristic electronic Dirac and flat bands of
the lattice models associated with these semiregular tessellations are observed near the Fermi level, arising from interlayer
interactions generated by the spatial rearrangement of AB, BA, and SP domains. Furthermore, the real-space observations
of electronic kagome, distorted Lieb, brick-like, and one-dimensional stripe lattices demonstrate that AETS enables tunable
semiregular tessellation lattices. Our study identifies AETS as a promising new degree of freedom in moir´e engineering,
offering a reproducible and scalable platform for exploring exotic electronic lattices in moire systems.